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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION | WHO

www.who.int
 

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Background and mission
Established in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) is the specialized UN agency responsible for providing leadership on matters related to global health. It is involved in setting norms and standards, shaping the health research agenda, adopting treaty conventions, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. Its stated objective is “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”, with health being defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.


Areas of interest

  • infectious diseases (prevention, treatment, monitoring of outbreaks)
  • vaccines, pharmaceutical diagnostics, drugs
  • health systems and services
  • non-communicable diseases and mental health
  • family and community health
  • health security and environment
  • information, evidence and research

WHO has a very large number of programmes and projects covering all of the areas listed above and may work in partnership with other UN agencies, member governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It works to eradicate diseases by sponsoring programmes aimed at treatment and prevention, by coordinating international efforts to increase preparedness for and monitor infectious disease outbreaks, and by supporting the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tools. WHO also works with member states to improve their treatment, care and prevention services and runs health-related campaigns, for example, to discourage tobacco use or to promote physical activity and a healthy diet.

Governance and staff
The current director general is Dr Margaret Chan. WHO employs over 8,000 people based in over 147 country offices, 6 regional offices, and WHO headquarters in Geneva.

Budget
WHO’s budget comes from assessed contributions from its member states (WHO’s regular budget), as well as from voluntary contributions (from countries, specialized agencies or other partners). The regular budget is much smaller than voluntary contributions and also grows at a slower rate. For 2006–2007, the regular budget accounted for 28 per cent (US$ 915 million) of total resources, with voluntary contributions making up the other 72 per cent (US$ 2.4 billion). The proposed programme budget for the period 2008–2009 is US$ 4.23 billion.

Publications

  • The World Health Report – annual report with an expert assessment of global health including statistics, focusing on a particular theme every year
  • International Travel and Health – publication on health risks for international travelers, vaccination requirements and recommended precautions
  • The International Classification of Diseases – the international standard diagnostic classification for epidemiological and health management purposes
  • International Pharmacopoeia – collection of quality specifications for pharmaceutical substances and dosage forms, for reference or adaptation by WHO member states

WHO PARTNERSHIPS


Under the aegis and/or the umbrella of WHO, there are many programmes and initiatives that reflect the new spirit of partnerships in global health and that may involve many other actors.
For this directory, we have chosen to provide separate entries for some of the major alliances, partnerships and special programmes (such as the Stop TB Partnership, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases) as well as specific entities (such as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Secretariat, the Global Health Workforce Alliance, and the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health). These entries are marked with an asterisk (*) in the table below. Although the other initiatives in the table do not have a separate entry, we felt it was important to draw attention to their work.

1. Commission on Intellectual Property Rights Innovation and Public Health*
    www.who.int/intellectualproperty

2. Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Secretariat*
    www.who.int/fctc/secretariat

3. Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA)*
    www.who.int/workforcealliance

4. Global Outbreak Alert Response Network (GOARN)
    www.who.int/csr/outbreaknetwork

5. Global Polio Eradication Initiative
    www.polioeradication.org

6. Global Task Force on Cholera Control
    www.who.int/cholera/introduction

7. Health Metrics Network (HMN)
    www.who.int/healthmetrics/about

8. Health Environments for Children Alliance (HECA)
    www.who.int/heca

9. International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT)
    www.who.int/impact

10. Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health
     www.who.int/pmnch/about

11. Roll Back Malaria Partnership*
     www.rollbackmalaria.org

12. Sexually Transmitted Diseases Diagnostics Initiative (SDI)
     www.who.int/std_diagnostics

13. Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases*
     www.who.int/tdr/index.html

14. Stop TB Partnership*
     www.stoptb.org

15. WHO-UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative (HVI)
     www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/hiv

16. World Alliance for Patient Safety
     www.who.int/patientsafety