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- For other meanings of the acronym 'WHO', see WHO (other meanings)
The WHO flag: similar to the flag of the United Nations, augmented with the symbolic staff and serpent of Asklepios, Greek god of medicine and healing.The World Health Organization (WHO) is an agency of the United Nations, acting as a coordinating authority on international public health, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. WHO was established by the UN on April 7, 1948. The current Director General is Lee Jong-wook. WHO inherited much of the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization (HO), which had been an agency of the League of Nations.
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Mission
WHO's constitution states that its mission "is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health". Its major task is to combat disease, especially key infectious diseases. As well as coordinating international efforts to monitor outbreaks of infectious disease such as SARS, malaria, and AIDS, it also has programmes to combat such diseases, by developing and distributing vaccines. After years of fighting smallpox, WHO declared in 1979 that the disease had been eradicated - the first disease in history to be completely eliminated by deliberate human design. WHO is nearing success in developing vaccines against malaria and schistosomiasis and aims to eradicate polio within the next few years.
WHO also compiles the widely followed International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The tenth revision of the ICD was released in 1992 and a searchable version is available online on the WHO website, although it is not comprehensive. Later revisions are indexed and available in hardcopy versions. The WHO does not permit simultaneous classification in two separate areas.
The constitution of WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not as consisting only of the absence of disease or infirmity. In addition to its work in eradicating disease, WHO also carries out campaigns — for example, to boost consumption of vegetables worldwide, or to discourage tobacco consumption – and conducts research: for instance, into whether or not the electromagnetic field surrounding cell phones has a negative influence on health. Some of this work can be controversial, such as the April 2003 WHO report which recommended that sugar be no more than 10% of a healthy diet, which led to lobbying by the sugar industry against this recommendation 1.
In addition to WHO's stated mission, international treaties assign the Organization a variety of responsibilities. For instance, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances call on WHO to issue binding scientific and medical assessments of psychoactive drugs and recommend how they should be regulated. In this way, WHO acts as a check on the power of the drug policymaking Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
Structure
WHO Headquarters in GenevaCopyright: WHO/Pierre Virot
WHO Member States 2 appoint delegations to the World Health Assembly, WHO's supreme decision-making body. The Assembly generally meets in May each year, and as well as appointing the Director-General (for five-year terms), supervises the financial policies of the Organization, and reviews and approves the proposed programme budget. The Assembly elects 32 members who are technically qualified in the field of health for three-year terms to an Executive Board. The main functions of the Board are to give effect to the decisions and policies of the Assembly, to advise it and generally to facilitate its work.
Membership
WHO has 192 Member States, including all UN Member States except Liechtenstein. Territories that are not UN Member States may join as Associate Members (with full information but limited participation and voting rights) if approved by an Assembly vote: Puerto Rico and Tokelau are Associate Members. Entities may also be granted observer status - examples include the PLO and the Vatican. Taiwan is campaigning for observer status, against the opposition of China which is already a WHO member and sees Taiwan as part of China.
Secretariat
The day-to-day work of WHO is carried out by its Secretariat, which is staffed by some 11,000 health and other experts and support staff, working at headquarters, in the six regional offices, and in countries. WHO is also represented by WHO Goodwill Ambassadors.
Partnership
As a UN agency, WHO is financed through the UN system by contributions from member states. In recent years, WHO's work has involved more collaboration with NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as with foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Some of these collaborations may be considered public-private partnerships 3; half the WHO budget is financed by private foundations and industry.
Some WHO-private sector partnerships
- PATH: Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (http://www.path.org)
- IAVI: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (http://www.iavi.org)
- MMV: Medicines for Malaria Venture (http://www.mmv.org)
- MVI: Malaria Vaccine Initiative (http://www.malariavaccine.org)
- TB Alliance: Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (http://www.tballiance.org)
- Aeras: Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation (http://aeras.org)
- IPM: International Partnership for Microbicides (http://www.ipm-microbicides.org)
- PDVI: Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative (http://www.pdvi.org)
- FIND: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (http://www.finddiagnostics.org)
- IOWH: Institute for One World Health (http://www.oneworldhealth.org)
- DNDi: Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (http://www.dndi.org)
Directors-General of WHO
| Name | Country | Term of Office |
|---|---|---|
| Brock Chisholm | Canada | 1948–1953 |
| Marcolino Gomes Candau | Brazil | 1953–1973 |
| Halfdan T. Mahler | Denmark | 1973–1988 |
| Hiroshi Nakajima | Japan | 1988–1998 |
| Gro Harlem Brundtland | Norway | 1998–2003 |
| Lee Jong-wook | South Korea | 2003–Present |