POSITION PAPER

Counry : Sweden
Committee : World Health Association (WHO)
Name : Farhana Samad
Topic Area : “The Use of CRISPR as A New Method in Health Emergencies”

World are facing many health problems that really need to be solved. A lot of deaths
happened caused by various diseases, such as Zika Virus, Ebola, Cancer, Diabetes, many kind of
hereditary illness, and others. With many health emergencies nowadays, Sweden are responsible
to take part to reduce the disease’s prevalence, spreading, contribute the health professional, and
conducting research to help United Nations tackle these health urgencies.
CRISPR is a “not so new” developing technology that can be used to solve many
heritable disease, and world’s health problem in general by the mechanism to precisely cut the
undesirable gene, and then replacing it with edited healthy gene. This CRISPR technology is
mesmerizing many world’s scientist and health professional in two ways. That it could vanish
the world’s health urgencies, or cause bigger problem ahead.
The delegate of Sweden state the country of Sweden is considering both pros and cons
toward this technology. The past action that taken by Sweden projected by the law that regulate
genetic modified organism GMO, in general is that GMO product will be supervised by the
government organization such as : Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board, National
Environmental Protection Agency, Medical Products Agency etc. And the supervision will be
held from the proposal of the research, the research process, the trial and error, until the future
product.
Sweden’s position for the usage of CRISPR followed the past international convention
the 1997 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with
regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, adopted under the umbrella of the Council of
Europe, provides in Article 13 that: “An intervention seeking to modify the human genome may
only be undertaken for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes and only if its aim is not to
introduce any modification in the genome of any descendants”. The Convention, which has been
ratified by 29 European countries (Council of Europe, 2016), effectively prohibits germline
interventions and limits the use of somatic gene therapy (Adorno, 2005).
Sweden’s policy about CRISPR usage to cure disease are considering from both sides ,for
the positive side is that we might vanish the dangerous disease and inheritable disease, and we
can enhance the gene therapy to cure incurable disease. And for the negative effect, we can be at
risk of misuse of this technology and violation of the. Eventough, people is still being skeptical
about the research, but Sweden already have rules that regulate the usage of CRISPR.
Experiments on humans are regulated foremost by the The Genetic Integrity Act (SFS
2006:351), the main idea of which is that experiments on fertilized eggs are allowed during the
first 14 days after fertilization. The eggs must then be destroyed. Most countries, including
Sweden, (through laws or moratoria) do not allow research involving gamete therapy (by which
the cells’ altered character would be inherited by future generations).
Sweden also agree on United Nations complete ban on germline editing for reproductive
purposes Genetic enhancement (“designer babies”), for the sake of protecting humanity and also
restrict more possible violation that can be happen.
The delegate of Sweden want to encourage other countries to support the usage of this
CRISPR technology with specific terms and condition that needs to be enhanced and assess
together with the role of scientist, health professional, and lawmaker.
Also what the delegate of Sweden want to propose is any CRISPR project toward human,
animal, or plants needs to ask permission by submitting the proposal with detailed information to
the government department, example given in Sweden is Swedish Gene Technology Advisory
Board. So that, government and society can keep track of the CRISPR technology usage.
Last thing, the delegate of Sweden state why not using the technology and facility to start
making a betterment. All of states need to support and utilize the CRISPR technology well, with
the consideration and conduct win-win solution for all nations’s health problems in the world

Adorno, Roberto. The Oviedo Convention: A European Legal Framework at the

ciIntersection of Human Rights and Health Law, Journal of International Biotechnology
Law 2005; 2(4):133-143.

"Genetics." CODEX - rules and guidelines for research. Centre for Research Ethics &
Bioethics,, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.