[PASSED]: Central Medicinal Database Compact

[Araraukar]

Defines "Medicinal Knowledge" as "the sum of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, as well as the identification of new diseases and improvement upon existing standards of medicine and medicinal practice".

You're not allowed to plagiarize.

OOC: Isn't plagiarism one of those offences that can still get you ejected from WA?

[Xerox Prime]

Defines "Medicinal Knowledge" as "the sum of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, as well as the identification of new diseases and improvement upon existing standards of medicine and medicinal practice".

You're not allowed to plagiarize.

Edited.

[Christian Democrats]

You're not allowed to plagiarize.

OOC: Isn't plagiarism one of those offences that can still get you ejected from WA?

I was under this impression. I reported the plagiarism in the hidden GenSec forum, but a mod told me: "the plagiarism ejection generally only applies if the bulk of the proposal is lifted from external sources."

[Araraukar]

I was under this impression. I reported the plagiarism in the hidden GenSec forum, but a mod told me: "the plagiarism ejection generally only applies if the bulk of the proposal is lifted from external sources."

OOC: That's a change of course from before. The Dictionary Wars era ruling was, if memory serves, that you can't copy the definitions off of Wikipedia and online dictionaries, and must instead use your own words.

[The United Federation of Thetos]

Discarded.

[Araraukar]

Discarded.

OOC: No, it's still on the submissions list. Who are you again?

[Xerox Prime]

The proposal no longer contains plagiarism.

[Bears Armed]

I was under this impression. I reported the plagiarism in the hidden GenSec forum, but a mod told me: "the plagiarism ejection generally only applies if the bulk of the proposal is lifted from external sources."

OOC: That's a change of course from before. The Dictionary Wars era ruling was, if memory serves, that you can't copy the definitions off of Wikipedia and online dictionaries, and must instead use your own words.

OOC
It was only the expulsion which that mod considered unnecessary: They agreed that the plagiarism was still enough to make the proposal illegal.

[The United Federation of Thetos]

Discarded.

OOC: No, it's still on the submissions list. Who are you again?

Well it was discarded...
Oh and hi! I am human.

[Bakhton]

"We apologize for our inattentiveness towards your proposal, but upon reaching quorum, we would like to inform you our National Congress and Supreme Court in preparation for the decision have sent positive sentiments. We will likely support, however, we would like to inquire that patient's medical data will of course not be included for public knowledge?"

[Whovian Tardisia]

I should hope not.

[Bakhton]

I should hope not.

"Ah of course, thank you Ambassador." Lara proceeds to play a recorder and complain about the dissatisfying redecoration of their office.

[Araraukar]

Just noticed that you define "medicinal information" but use "medical information" in the body of the proposal, which neuters all of its active clauses, as it lets nations interprete "medical information" as whatever the hell they like.

Your only use of "medicinal" is in "medicinal discoveries", but again, not defined, so can be interpreted as whatever the nations feel like.

OOC: To put that in RL examples, nations could inform the WA that they have discovered how to effectively kill bacteriums (penicillin and other antibiotics), how to use invisible rays to detect broken bones (röntgen, also known as x-rays) and how to use magnetic fields to see details inside living bodies (MRI) without going into any details.

I suggest you withdraw it to fix that.

[Araraukar]

OOC: This is now at vote.

[Grussania]

Here's what I have to say about the CMDC (Central Medicinal Database Compact).

It's not a bad idea, but I dislike what it states in the second paragraph:

Clarifies that "Medicinal Knowledge" does not refer to patient records, histories, and information, information pertaining to specific employees and patients of hospitals and treatment facilities throughout the WA, information pertaining to specific medical cases and records, technological research, and the research of biological weapons.

I don't see why some items aren't qualified as "Medicinal Knowledge". They are as follows:
"biological weapons"
"patient records, histories, and information"
"technological research"

Biological weapons-
I don't enjoy the thought of biological weapons. They are nasty things, only to be used in the most dire of circumstances. I believe that all should know about them, to better treat casualties from their use/misuse.

Patient records, histories, and information-
One database containing all of the records of our medicinal ablilites and, of course, our medicinal abilites would be preferable to... Well, lacking past information on certain diseases. As well, any form of 'outbreak' might be helped to cease by finding the patient zero, which can't be nearly as easily done without the records.

Technological research-
I believe we, as a set of nations working to make the world a better place, should share our medicinal technology. Not keep it separate from each other.

[Covenstone]

Here's what I have to say about the CMDC (Central Medicinal Database Compact).

It's not a bad idea, but I dislike what it states in the second paragraph:

Clarifies that "Medicinal Knowledge" does not refer to patient records, histories, and information, information pertaining to specific employees and patients of hospitals and treatment facilities throughout the WA, information pertaining to specific medical cases and records, technological research, and the research of biological weapons.

I don't see why some items aren't qualified as "Medicinal Knowledge". They are as follows:
"biological weapons"
"patient records, histories, and information"
"technological research"

Biological weapons-
I don't enjoy the thought of biological weapons. They are nasty things, only to be used in the most dire of circumstances. I believe that all should know about them, to better treat casualties from their use/misuse.

Patient records, histories, and information-
One database containing all of the records of our medicinal ablilites and, of course, our medicinal abilites would be preferable to... Well, lacking past information on certain diseases. As well, any form of 'outbreak' might be helped to cease by finding the patient zero, which can't be nearly as easily done without the records.

Technological research-
I believe we, as a set of nations working to make the world a better place, should share our medicinal technology. Not keep it separate from each other.

While I understand the argument you are making about Patient records and histories, having a single, central database with every patient record (including personal information) stored within The WA databases (rather than within national or local databases) is not something I could accept, and am quite happy that this proposal doesn't require that. It would be open to VAST amounts of misuse and abuse from any number of people.

So the fact that medical information does NOT cover that in this instance is a very good thing, and one of which I approve completely.

[Bienovia]

I like this idea.

[Grussania]

Here's what I have to say about the CMDC (Central Medicinal Database Compact).

It's not a bad idea, but I dislike what it states in the second paragraph:

I don't see why some items aren't qualified as "Medicinal Knowledge". They are as follows:
"biological weapons"
"patient records, histories, and information"
"technological research"

Biological weapons-
I don't enjoy the thought of biological weapons. They are nasty things, only to be used in the most dire of circumstances. I believe that all should know about them, to better treat casualties from their use/misuse.

Patient records, histories, and information-
One database containing all of the records of our medicinal ablilites and, of course, our medicinal abilites would be preferable to... Well, lacking past information on certain diseases. As well, any form of 'outbreak' might be helped to cease by finding the patient zero, which can't be nearly as easily done without the records.

Technological research-
I believe we, as a set of nations working to make the world a better place, should share our medicinal technology. Not keep it separate from each other.

While I understand the argument you are making about Patient records and histories, having a single, central database with every patient record (including personal information) stored within The WA databases (rather than within national or local databases) is not something I could accept, and am quite happy that this proposal doesn't require that. It would be open to VAST amounts of misuse and abuse from any number of people.

So the fact that medical information does NOT cover that in this instance is a very good thing, and one of which I approve completely.

I see what you mean but;
What of the other two problems?

[Timsvill]

WA delegate John Wing stands up, "The Congress of timsvill, the president, the Senate and based on an online poll! Timsvill votes against this. On the grounds that this is personal information and the government has no right to that info!"

[Covenstone]

While I understand the argument you are making about Patient records and histories, having a single, central database with every patient record (including personal information) stored within The WA databases (rather than within national or local databases) is not something I could accept, and am quite happy that this proposal doesn't require that. It would be open to VAST amounts of misuse and abuse from any number of people.

So the fact that medical information does NOT cover that in this instance is a very good thing, and one of which I approve completely.

I see what you mean but;
What of the other two problems?

I think there are serious prohibitions against researching biological weapons in WA law. A past resolution outlaws it, and while one could argue that what you suggesting (using medical information to research cures for biological weapons) is different from using medical research to create biological weapons, the only real way to test a cure is to have a sample of the thing you are trying to cure. Which is where, I believe, the trouble lies.

(I am not certain on that point, you would have to ask a better woman than I for the full legal case surrounding it, but that would be my guess.)

Plus, and this part is just hypothetical, if the prohibition against biological weapons was repealed in the future (for example if every member state went nuts for reasons as yet unknown) then who in their right mind would want to hand over medical information so a weapon could be built that would target their species and their species alone? While Stoners are mostly human (Stoners, I should explain, is what we from Covenstone call ourselves) we have specific biological traits that mark us out as different. And while I am not a chemist or biologist, I would hazard a guess it would be fairly easy to design a weapon that could focus on those traits and kill people with those traits while ignoring every other species in The World Assembly, thus creating the perfect bomb, as it were.

If we thought for one second that that's what this information would be used for, not only would we vote against this, but we would probably launch a preemptive strike and blow the building up.

But since that is not what this information will be used for, we are happy to vote for it and not blow the crap out of the building!

And the technology part. Well, again it comes down to different species. Sharing technology sounds all well and good, but some planets are so advanced, and some are so un-advanced that it would be like giving a nuclear bomb to a child and letting them hit it with a stick to see how it worked. Plus with the vast array of species out there, I would imagine there is very little cross over potential for medical technology anyway.

[Grussania]

I see what you mean but;
What of the other two problems?

I think there are serious prohibitions against researching biological weapons in WA law. A past resolution outlaws it, and while one could argue that what you suggesting (using medical information to research cures for biological weapons) is different from using medical research to create biological weapons, the only real way to test a cure is to have a sample of the thing you are trying to cure. Which is where, I believe, the trouble lies.

(I am not certain on that point, you would have to ask a better woman than I for the full legal case surrounding it, but that would be my guess.)

Plus, and this part is just hypothetical, if the prohibition against biological weapons was repealed in the future (for example if every member state went nuts for reasons as yet unknown) then who in their right mind would want to hand over medical information so a weapon could be built that would target their species and their species alone? While Stoners are mostly human (Stoners, I should explain, is what we from Covenstone call ourselves) we have specific biological traits that mark us out as different. And while I am not a chemist or biologist, I would hazard a guess it would be fairly easy to design a weapon that could focus on those traits and kill people with those traits while ignoring every other species in The World Assembly, thus creating the perfect bomb, as it were.

If we thought for one second that that's what this information would be used for, not only would we vote against this, but we would probably launch a preemptive strike and blow the building up.

But since that is not what this information will be used for, we are happy to vote for it and not blow the crap out of the building!

And the technology part. Well, again it comes down to different species. Sharing technology sounds all well and good, but some planets are so advanced, and some are so un-advanced that it would be like giving a nuclear bomb to a child and letting them hit it with a stick to see how it worked. Plus with the vast array of species out there, I would imagine there is very little cross over potential for medical technology anyway.

I see. Well, I was not aware of a multi-planetary scale part of the "World Assembly", as, I thought it would be "Galaxy Assembly".

Anyways, I see what you mean. We Grussanians are born not from the womb of a mother but in vats. So there are no planned weaklings in our society, and we would find it useful to have a centralized knowledge base to keep from having another... Screw-up batch. There's no way of being sure, because of, well, human/inhuman/clone error, but still. I think I'll support the current standing, for the following reasons, which I hope changes the minds of those reading this to be the same as mine:

The lack of an ability to create a cure (To biological weapons) is irrelevant because of a previously unknown ban on them, which both makes me happy and causes some minor setbacks in my tech division. (Joke.)

The main database could easily be misused to fit people's nefarious purposes, and while I'd like to know just what my dissenting citizens are troubled with, I am willing to put that aside, because: (The threat of misuse/abuse of the system)>(The benefits of knowing basically everything about not just my citizens, but everyone's)

But, I still would enjoy a bit of shared technological knowledge, such as gene splicing, advanced/reliable cloning, new scanning capabilities (CAT scans, MRIs, and the likes), new antibiotics (So that those of the same species might help each other, and so that those of differing species might derive their own antibiotics to help with outbreaks there)


And, another question, when are biological weapons a good idea (to use)?

[Araraukar]

OOC: As long as the definition defines something that isn't used in the body of the text, and on which the functioning of the proposal hinges, this whole thing is a useless one.

[Bakhton]

"We rise in support."

[Draconae]

"I'm sorry we haven't commented on your proposal before," Marcus Valorus says, "but we have several problems with it, which have led us to vote against."

Establishes a World Assembly Central Medicinal Database (WACMD), with the purpose of:

• Accepting medical knowledge from those who contribute it,
• Archiving historical and present medicinal discoveries and knowledge in a centralized digital database, accessible by all,
• Providing access of such information to the nations of the WA, and ensuring the preservation of aforementioned medical knowledge,
• Establishing an online database for all collected and archived medical knowledge,
• Providing access to archived knowledge for educational purposes;

"These bullet points seem unnecessarily repetitive. Couldn't you have included 'online' in the second bullet point? Also, wouldn't 'accessable by all' include for educational purposes? However, the other major problem here is that some nations don't have any digital networks, so they won't be able to access this information, as it is entirely digital."

Providing relevant collected knowledge to the pharmaceutical industry, in whatever form it may take,
Ensuring the cooperation of the pharmaceutical industry in the careful study and analysis of new treatments and procedures,

"You also provide this knowledge to the pharmaceutical industry, but make no restrictions how they can use it. This means that, while they must study new treatments and procedures, they can still manipulate prices, unless it is a life-saving drug, which many aren't. I don't believe this resolution should have tried to do both pharmaceutical regulation and medical databasing at the same time."

Mandates that all WA Nations pass laws to promote healthcare, medicinal and pharmaceutical research, and preservation of medical knowledge;

"This clause is very vague, which will lead nations to interpret it in a number of different ways, from a reduction in regulations for healthcare and medical research to nationalization of healthcare. You may not have wanted some of those outcomes. Furthermore, why should nations have to promote medical research and the preservation of medical knowledge if the WA, under this resolution, is already doing so? This clause does not really make any sense."

Affirms the right for private and corporate entities to participate in their own research and production of medicinal and pharmaceutical goods and information, albeit under WA and WACMD regulation, if applicable and approved by the WA.

"Finally, we come to this clause, which (unintentionally, I'm sure) makes the WA responsible for approving any and all non-governmental research and production of medicinal and pharmaceutical goods. Now, with all the good things that the WA has done, I don't believe they should be responsible for this, as this will either entirely bog down the WA or see a committee control all non-governmental medical research. Furthermore, this doesn't even specify what committee controls this approval process. This is so vague that a plausible interpretation is that the WA might need to pass a resolution to approve any individual research project. In addition, in response to the argument that individual nations would shut down medical research, this database would actually solve that, because all nations would have access, so any nation or corporation could build on the achievements of another. Instead, by imposing this centralized control, the WA could shut down all non-governmental medical research, which would only leave governments, with sometimes limited funding, doing research."

"Overall, while we do not oppose the database concept, we cannot vote for this bill and urge other ambassadors to vote against as well."

Edit: Fix quotation mark and clarify point

[Almonaster Nuevo]

While the main intent of this resolution seems laudable, we have a significant concern with the phrase

under WA and WACMD regulation

Nothing in the preceding sections appears to establish a suitable framework for the WACMD to act as a regulatory agency, nor would we support any such attempt. As it stands, there is a conflict between the stated purpose and the active clause quoted.

For that reason, Almonaster Nuevo will be voting against this.