WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Chair: Lishore Kumar
Committee Type: General Assembly
One of the United Nations' top priorities since its founding has been protecting global health. To advance this mission, the World Health Organization (WHO) was established on April 7, 1948—just three years after the UN’s inception. As a specialized agency of the UN, the WHO has consistently worked to expand universal health coverage, with its member states dedicated to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background, can lead healthier lives.
Under WHO leadership, the organization has achieved significant milestones, including the eradication of smallpox, expanding access to antiretroviral therapies for HIV/AIDS, and coordinating the largest global response to COVID-19. Today, the WHO remains more vital than ever, leading efforts to address global health emergencies, providing primary and preventative healthcare, and protecting the environment through initiatives that promote clean air and water as a means to prevent infectious diseases.
Topic 1
Addressing the safety concerns of AI in healthcare
Over 4 billion people worldwide lack access to essential healthcare services. While financial limitations play a role, the more pressing issues stem from systemic shortfalls in global healthcare systems, including analyzing vast amounts of patient data, optimizing resource allocation, and providing care amid a global shortage of healthcare workers. However, the rising onset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a promising solution to these problems.
Incorporating AI in healthcare can expand patient access to medical care. By automating tasks like analyzing patient records, scribing notes, and handling administrative work, AI allows clinicians to focus on individualized care and see more patients on a daily basis. On the global scale, AI offers significant benefits, such as tracking the spread of infectious diseases and predicting potential outbreaks.
However, these advancements come with risks. Concerns over patient privacy, potential errors in medical assistance, and biases stemming from flawed datasets are critical issues that must be addressed. To safely harness AI's potential, this committee’s delegates must identify the most significant risks associated with AI in healthcare and develop strategies to effectively manage them, ensuring equitable, safe, and reliable healthcare outcomes worldwide.
Topic 2
Measures to increase birth rates globally
Though it may seem like the global population is continually growing, many nations are experiencing the opposite trend. Countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Ukraine, Macau, Moldova, and dozens of others have fertility rates below the necessary “replacement rate”—the average number of children per woman needed to stabilize the population, accounting for parental mortality and infant deaths. In the most affected nations, fertility rates are nearly half of what is required. If this pattern continues, these populations will decline, with impacts reaching far beyond demographic shifts.
A declining birth rate leads to an aging population that strains social security systems, which rely on a dwindling workforce. Additionally, healthcare systems risk being overwhelmed, as they are often not designed to handle a disproportionately older population.
For many individuals in these nations, the decision not to have children is not a matter of choice but circumstance. High healthcare costs, inaccessible childcare services, and increased health risks for infants discourage families from expanding. Therefore, to support families who wish to have children but cannot, as well as to ensure the longevity of government protections, this delegation must identify key challenges and explore solutions