Committee Profile

The World Health Organization, established in 1948 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a specialized agency of the United Nations composed of 194 Member States. The WHO seeks to expand access to health care and improve the global response to health emergencies and diseases, ultimately striving to provide everyone equal access to a healthy life. Antimicrobials, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, are defined by the World Health Organization as medicines used to prevent and treat infectious diseases in humans, animals, and plants. While antimicrobial resistance is a natural process, the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials by human activity greatly accelerates the rate at which microbes stop responding to antimicrobial medicines. The drastic rise in antimicrobial resistance poses a serious threat to modern medical treatments, the economic costs of healthcare, and ecological well-being of wild and farmed plants and animals. With this, delegates will be challenged to navigate a complex healthcare situation as they decide how society can safely use and develop antimicrobial medications for healthcare and agricultural productivity in different income level regions.