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Key Resource: Rehabilitation of Health Structures

Hi delegates, For our second topic, the Rehabilitation of Health Structures in Post-Conflict Zones, this following resource is extremely helpful. The World Health Organization produced this guideline  to address some key issues that are faced when creating a new healthcare system in a conflict-affected area. It's 158 pages, so you are by no means required to read all of it, but you should skim through a few sections to understand what factors go into making a solution as detailed as possible.  This resource should also help you understand the kinds of recommendations WHO makes regarding these types of issues. Remember that conflict  is not the topic - we are not the Security Council, and resolving conflicts and instituting new governments are not the responsibility of WHO. Instead, think about the policy recommendations that WHO can make in regards to a new ministry of health, a new public health department, or similar facet of the government. Hopefully this helps frame
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Eradicating Neglected Tropical Diseases

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Hello Delegates! Great job on your position papers! We've been reading them as they have been coming in and we are extremely impressed with the level of thought and the ideas presented in them. Keep up the good work! Reminder - to be eligible for a committee award, position papers are due by February 12th! Here's a great video which really breaks down the issue of eradicating global diseases, specifically Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). One of the biggest struggles with eradicating NTDs is the fact that they are most often found in isolated communities whose residents do not have proper access to healthcare and preventative measures. This issue is hard to combat, but as can be seen in this video, thanks to the generosity of the pharmaceutical industry, over 815 million people have been treated for various NTDs. Some interesting thoughts to ponder - How do you distribute treatment to isolated communities which lack proper infrastructure? Is it sustainable to have t
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About This Blog

BMUN is a conference that uses blogs to give delegates the chance to engage with the material before the weekend of conference.  We want you to use this blog in a way that is comfortable for you; some comments that we're seeing are extremely well-written and developed, which is amazing! Thank you for putting so much time and effort into a reply.  For delegates who want to write shorter or less formal replies, though, that is also more than okay! This blog should help you interact with the topics and with other delegates in whatever way is accessible.  For example, if you want to comment on other delegates' comments, feel free to do so, even if it's just to mention that you agree with them and want to talk more together in committee! Or, if you just want to ask a question about what you read in the post, feel more than free to do that, as well. As your chairs, we read every comment. If you don't see a reply from us, don't worry; we've seen it and apprecia
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Key Resource: Disease Eradication

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Hi delegates! I'm starting a series on this blog called "Key Resource". Every post in this series will inform you of a resource I think is integral to developing a thorough understanding of one of our topics. To kick things off this week, I am sharing one of my favorite journal articles of all time; it's a publication about the nuances of disease eradication. It can be found here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1200391 I encourage you all to think critically like the author does about the different factors that must be considered when improving disease eradication programs. During committee, I'll expect detailed and tailored solutions, not overarching, vague ones that try to tackle too many diseases at once. Addressing issues in an analytical way is more challenging, but it's also more fun! Comment below if you have any questions about the article, and feel free to also respond with why you think it's an informative or well-written pi
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The Role of Private International Actors in Public Health

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Happy Friday, Delegates! As the deadline for position papers is approaching (quick reminder: they are due next Monday on Feb 5th :D) and it's almost the time for the conference, we would like to provide you with more thoughts on the topic!  This blog, in particular, is a summary of two articles on the role of private international actors in public health: one by Julia Belluz  https://www.vox.com/2015/6/10/8760199/gates-foundation-criticism  and the other by Andy Beckett  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/24/no-such-thing-free-gift-gates-foundation-philanthropy-review . They both recognize the increasingly important role of the private donors in public health and criticizes its lack of transparency and excessive power of leading the conversation and setting the agenda. The following is a brief summary of the two passages and after reading the passage, you all can think about the role of private entities in the context of our topics and the positions of your countri
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Questions? Concerns? Comment below!

Happy February, delegates! Your dais wants you to know that before we were your chairs, we were delegates, too! We know how challenging MUN can be, so this post is dedicated to addressing any questions or concerns you may have about conference. Worried about public speaking? Having difficulty finding your country's policies online? Wondering how to improve your speeches to make the committee the best it can be? We're here to help! Comment below or email me at chief@bmun.org. 
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Reconstruction in South Sudan

How's it going, delegates! The WHO dais and I know that the time to write position papers has come and that the deadline is approaching very quickly. We also know that it might be difficult to get adjusted to and get thinking about your assigned country's perspective and possible solutions to the exciting committee topics this year. To give you delegates something tangible to think about and brainstorm, I found an excellent article about the need for healthcare and subsequent reconstruction in South Sudan (please note that despite the date of the article, this healthcare struggle is still currently occurring), which is linked here:  https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/hghr/online/securing-health-care-in-war-zones/ Some key questions to consider when reading this article are "How important is healthcare education in my assigned country?", "Is education a feasible solution to healthcare infrastructure issues in my country (if there are indeed any) and why?", and
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