- For other meanings of the acronym 'WHO', see WHO
(disambiguation)
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. The WHO inherited much of the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organisation (HO), which had
been an agency of the League of Nations.
Mission
The 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.
The constitution of WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not consisting only
of the absence of disease or infirmity. In addition to its work in eradicating disease, the 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 recomendation [1] (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,940287,00.html).
In addition to the 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 the WHO to issue binding scientific and
medical assessments of psychoactive drugs and recommend how they should be regulated. In this way, the WHO acts as a check on the
power of the drug policymaking Commission on
Narcotic Drugs.
Structure
WHO member states [2] (http://www.who.int/countries/en/)
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
The WHO has 192 member states, including all UN Member States
except Liechtenstein. Territories that are not UN Member states may join
as associated members (with full information but limited participation and voting rights) if approved by an Assembly vote.
Examples include New Zealand's self-governing entities of Cook Islands and
Niue. 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.
Partnership
As a UN agency, the WHO is financed through the UN system by contributions from member states. In recent years, the 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] (http://www.who.int/tdr/publications/publications/pdf/partnerships.pdf); half the WHO budget
is financed by private foundations and industry.
Directors-General of the WHO
Other notable persons associated with the WHO
External links
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