WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nation s (UN) that

is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and is a member of the U nited Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the Health Organization, was a n agency of the League of Nations. The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by all 61 coun tries of the United Nations by 22 July 1946, with the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 24 July 1948. It incorporated the Office Internati onal d'Hygine Publique and the League of Nations Health Organization. Since its c reation, WHO has been responsible for playing a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular , HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-commu nicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and ageing; nutri tion, food security and healthy eating; substance abuse; and drive the developme nt of reporting, publications, and networking. WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, a leading international publication on health, the worldwide Worl d Health Survey, and World Health Day. HISTORY ESTABLISHMENT The League of Nations Health Organization was established following the First Wo rld War inside the League of Nations framework. According to the League's Covena nt, it was to "endeavour to take steps in matters of international concern for t he prevention and control of disease".[1] Its efforts were hampered by the Secon d World War, during which United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administratio n also played a role in international health initiatives.[2] During the United N ations Conference on International Organization, references to health had been i ncorporated into the United Nations Charter.[3] During the United Nations Conference on International Organization, references t o health were incorporated into the United Nations Charter and it passed a decla ration that an international health body would be set up.[3] In February 1946, t he Economic and Social Council of the United Nations helped draft the constituti on of the new body.[2] The use of the word "world", rather than "international", emphasised the truly global nature of what the organization was seeking to achi eve.[2] The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by all 61 countries of the United Nations by 22 July 1946. It thus became the first sp ecialised agency of the United Nations to which every member subscribed.[3] Its constitution formally came into force on the first World Health Day on 7 April 1 948, when it was ratified by the 26th member state.[4] The first meeting of the World Health Assembly finished on 24 July 1948, having secured a budget of US$5 million (then GBP1,250,000) for the 1949 year. Dr. Andrija Stampar was the Assemb ly's first president, and Dr. G. Brock Chisholm was appointed Director-General o f WHO, having served as Executive Secretary during the planning stages.[2] Its f irst priorities were to control the spread of malaria, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, and to improve maternal and child health, nutrition and environmental hygiene. Its first legislative act was concerning the compilation of accurate statistics on the spread and morbidity of disease.[2] The logo of t he World Health Organization features the Rod of Asclepius as a symbol for heali ng OPERATIONAL HISTORY WHO established an epidemiological information service via telex in 1947, and by 1950 a mass tuberculosis inoculation drive (using the BCG vaccine) was under wa y. In 1955, the malaria eradication programme was launched, although it was late r altered in objective. 1965 saw the first report on diabetes mellitus and the c reation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. WHO moved into its h

eadquarters building in 1966. The Expanded Programme on Immunization was started in 1974, as was the control programme into onchocerciasis an important partners hip between the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Developmen t Programme, and World Bank. In the following year, the Special Programme for Re search and Training in Tropical Diseases was also launched. In 1976, the World H ealth Assembly voted to enact a resolution on Disability Prevention and Rehabili tation, with a focus on community-driven care. The first list of essential medic ines was drawn up in 1977, and a year later the ambitious goal of "health for al l" was declared. In 1986, WHO started it global programme on the growing problem of HIV/AIDS, followed two years later by additional attention on preventing dis crimination against sufferers and UNAIDS was formed in 1996. The Global Polio Er adication Initiative was established in 1988.[6 In 1958, Professor Viktor Zhdanov, Deputy Minister of Health for the USSR, calle d on the World Health Assembly to undertake a global initiative to eradicate sma llpox, resulting in Resolution WHA11.54.[7] At this point, 2 million people were dying from smallpox every year. In 1967, the World Health Organization intensif ied the global smallpox eradication by contributing $2.4 million annually to the effort and adopted a new disease surveillance method.[8][9] The initial problem the WHO team faced was inadequate reporting of smallpox cases. WHO established a network of consultants who assisted countries in setting up surveillance and c ontainment activities.[10] The WHO also helped contain the last European outbrea k in Yugoslavia in 1972.[11] After over two decades of fighting smallpox, the WH O declared in 1980 that the disease had been eradicated the first disease in his tory to be eliminated by human effort.[12] In 1998, WHO's Director General highlighted gains in child survival, reduced inf ant mortality, raised life expectancy and reduced rates of "scourges" such as sm allpox and polio on the fiftieth anniversary of WHO's founding. He, did, however , accept that more had to be done to assist maternal health and that progress in this area had been slow.[13] Cholera and malaria have remained problems since W HO's founding, although in decline for a large part of that period.[14] In the t wenty-first century, the Stop TB partnership was created in 2000, along with the UN's formulation of the Millennium Development Goals. The Measles initiative wa s formed in 2001, and credited with reducing global deaths from the disease by 6 8% by 2007. In 2002, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was drawn up to improve the resources available.[6] In 2006, the organization endor sed the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe, which formed the b asis for a global prevention, treatment and support plan to fight the AIDS pande mic. Current projects [edit]Overall focus The WHO's constitution states that its objective "is the attainment by all peopl e of the highest possible level of health."[16] WHO identifies its role as one of six main objectives:[17] providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed; shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and diss emination of valuable knowledge; setting norms and standards and promoting and monitoring their implementation; articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options; providing technical support, catalysing change, and building sustainable institu tional capacity; and monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends. The 2012 2013 budget further identified thirteen areas among which funding was dis tributed.[18] [edit]Communicable diseases Two of those thirteen areas related to communicable diseases: the first, to redu cing the "health, social and economic burden" of communicable diseases in genera l; the second to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in particular.[18]

In terms of HIV/AIDS, WHO works within the UNAIDS network and considers it impor tant that it works in alignment with UNAIDS objectives and strategies. It also s trives to involve sections of society other than health to help deal with the ec onomic and social effects of the disease.[19] In line with UNAIDS, WHO has set i tself the interim task between 2009 and 2015 of reducing the number of those age d 15 24 years who are infected by 50%; reducing new HIV infections in children by 90%; and reducing HIV-related deaths by 25%.[20] Although WHO dropped its commitment to a global malaria eradication campaign in the 1970s as too ambitious, it retains a strong commitment to malaria control. W HO's Global Malaria Programme works to keep track of malaria cases, and future p roblems in malaria control schemes. WHO is to report, likely in 2015, as to whet her RTS,S/AS01, currently in research, is a viable malaria vaccine. For the time being, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and insecticide sprays are used to pre vent the spread of malaria, as are antimalarial drugs particularly to vulnerable people such as pregnant women and young children.[21] WHO's help has contributed to a 40% fall in the number of deaths from tuberculos is between 1990 and 2010, and since 2005, it claims that over 46 million people have been treated and an estimated 7 million lives saved through practices advoc ated by WHO. These include engaging national governments and their financing, ea rly diagnosis, standardising treatment, monitoring of the spread and impact of t uberculosis and stabilising the drug supply. It has also recognised the vulnerab ility of victims of HIV/AIDS to tuberculosis.[22] WHO aims to eradicate polio. It has also been successful in helping to reduce ca ses by 99% since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988, w hich partnered WHO with Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF), as well as smaller organizations. It works to immunize young children and prevent the re-em ergence of cases in countries declared "polio-free".[23] [edit]Non-communicable diseases Another of the thirteen areas is aimed at the prevention and reduction of "disea se, disability and premature from chronic noncommunicable diseases, mental disor ders, violence and injuries and visual impairment".[18][24] [edit]Life and lifestyle WHO also works to "reduce morbidity and mortality and improve health during key stages of life, including pregnancy, childbirth, the neonatal period, childhood and adolescence, and improve sexual and reproductive health and promote active a nd healthy aging for all individuals".[18][25] It also tries to prevent or reduce risk factors for"health conditions associated with use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other psychoactive substances, unhealth y diets and physical inactivity and unsafe sex".[18][26][27] WHO works to improve nutrition, food safety and food security and to ensure this has a positive effect on public health and sustainable development.[18] [edit]Emergency work When any sort of disaster or emergency occurs, it is WHO's stated objective to r educe any consequences it may have on world health and its social and economic i mplications.[18] [edit]Health policy WHO also addresses government health policy with two aims: firstly, "to address the underlying social and economic determinants of health through policies and p rogrammes that enhance health equity and integrate pro-poor, genderresponsive, a nd human rights-based approaches" and secondly "to promote a healthier environme nt, intensify primary prevention and influence public policies in all sectors so as to address the root causes of environmental threats to health".[18] In terms of health services, WHO looks to improve "governance, financing, staffi ng and management" and the availability and quality of evidence and research to guide polciy making. it also strives to "ensure improved access, quality and use of medical products and technologies".[18] [edit]Governance and support The remaining two of WHO's thirteen identified policy areas relate to the role o f WHO itself: firstly, "to provide leadership, strengthen governance and foster

partnership and collaboration with countries, the United Nations system, and oth er stakeholders in order to fulfil the mandate of WHO in advancing the global he alth agenda" and secondly "to develop and sustain WHO as a flexible, learning or ganization, enabling it to carry out its mandate more efficiently and effectivel y".[18] [edit]Other work In addition, the WHO has also promoted road safety.[28] Each year, the organizat ion marks World Health Day focusing on a specific health promotion topic, timed to match the anniversary of WHO's founding. Recent themes have been drug resista nce (2011) and ageing (2012).[29] As part of the United Nations, the World Healt h Organization supports work towards the Millennium Development Goals.[30] Of th e eight Millennium Development Goals, three reducing child mortality by two-thir ds, to reduce maternal deaths by three-quarters, and to halt and begin to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS relate directly to WHO's scope; the other five inter-rel ate and have an impact on world health.[31] [edit]Data handling and publications The organization relies on contributions from renowned scientists and profession als to inform its work, such as the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardi zation,[32] the WHO Expert Committee on Leprosy,[33] and the WHO Study Group on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice.[34] WHO has also worked on global initiatives in surgery, including emergency and essential surgical care, [35] trauma care,[36] and safe surgery.[37] The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is in current use worldwide in the effort to improve patient safety.[38] WHO runs the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, targeted at improv ing health policy and systems.[39] WHO aims to improve access to health research and literature in developing countries such as through the HINARI network.[40] The organization has published tools for monitoring the capacity of national hea lth systems[41] and health workforces.[42] The Global Health Observatory(GHO) ha s been the WHO's main portal which provides access to data and analyses for key health themes by monitoring health situations around the globe. [43] The World H ealth Organization works to provide the needed health and well-being evidence th rough a variety of data collection platforms, including the World Health Survey covering almost 400,000 respondents from 70 countries,[44] and the Study on Glob al Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) covering over 50,000 persons over 50 years old in 23 countries.[45] The Country Health Intelligence Portal (CHIP), has also be en developed to provide an access point to information about the health services that are available in different countries. [46] The information gathered in thi s portal is utilized by the countries to set priorities for future strategies or plans, implement, monitor, and evaluate it. The WHO Assessment Instrument for M ental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS), the WHO Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL), an d the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) provide guidance for data collection.[47] Collaborative efforts between WHO and other agencies, such as through the Health Metrics Network, also aim to provide sufficient high-quali ty information to assist governmental decision making.[48] WHO promotes the deve lopment of capacities in member states to use and produce research that addresse s their national needs, including through the Evidence-Informed Policy Network ( EVIPNet).[49] The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/AMRO) became the first region to develop and pass a policy on research for health approved in September 2009.[50] The organization develops and promotes the use of evidence-based tools, norms an d standards to support member states to inform health policy options. It oversee s the implementation of the International Health Regulations, and publishes a se ries of medical classifications; of these, three are overreaching "reference cla ssifications": the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD), t he International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).[51] Other inter national policy frameworks produced by WHO include the International Code of Mar keting of Breast-milk Substitutes (adopted in 1981),[52] Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (adopted in 2003)[53] and the Global Code of Practice on the In ternational Recruitment of Health Personnel (adopted in 2010).[54] The WHO regul

arly publishes a World Health Report, its leading publication, including an expe rt assessment of a specific global health topic.[55] Other publications of WHO i nclude the Bulletin of the World Health Organization,[56] the Eastern Mediterran ean Health Journal (overseen by EMRO),[57] the Human Resources for Health (publi shed in collaboration with BioMed Central),[58] and the Pan American Journal of Public Health (overseen by PAHO/AMRO). Financing and partnerships The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and outside donors. As o f 2012, the largest annual assessed contributions from member states came from t he United States ($110 million), Japan ($58 million), Germany ($37 million), Uni ted Kingdom ($31 million) and France ($31 million).[85] The combined 2012 2013 bud get has proposed a total expenditure of $3,959 million, of which $944 million (2 4%) will come from assessed contributions. This represented a significant fall i n outlay compared to the previous 2009 2010 budget, adjusting to take account of p revious underspends. Assessed contributions were kept the same. Voluntary contri butions will account for $3,015 million (76%), of which $800 million is regarded as highly or moderately flexible funding, with the remainder tied to particular programmes or objectives.[86] In recent years, the WHO's work has involved increasing collaboration with exter nal bodies.[87] As of 2002, a total of 473 NGOs had some form of partnership wit h WHO. There were 189 partnerships with international non-governmental organizat ion (NGO) in formal "official relations" the rest being considered informal in c haracter.[88] Partners include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation[89] and the Rockefeller Foundation.