World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency (independent international organizations linked to the United Nations by a special cooperation agreement) consisting of 194 member states, the main function of which is to solve international health problems of the world's population.

The World Health Organization was founded in 1948 with its head office in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to the WHO, the UN specialized group includes UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the International Labor Organization, UNICEF (Save the Children) and others.

A UN Member State becomes a member of the WHO by adopting a constitution. A non-UN member state is admitted to WHO by a simple majority vote of the General Assembly. Territories that are not eligible to act as subjects of international relations may be admitted to WHO as associate members on the basis of applications made on their behalf by a WHO member or other authority responsible for the international relations of these territories.

Background to the creation of who

The first body engaged in interethnic cooperation in this matter was the Constantinople Supreme Council of Health, formed in 1839. Its main tasks were the control of foreign ships in the ports of the Ottoman Empire and anti-epidemic measures to prevent the spread of plague and cholera. Later, similar councils were established in Morocco (1840) and Egypt (1846). In 1851, the First International Sanitary Conference was held in Paris (there were 14 of them in total), which was attended by 12 states, including the Russian Empire. The outcome of this forum was supposed to be the adoption of the International Sanitary Convention, which determined the procedure for maritime quarantine in the Mediterranean Sea. However, this result was achieved only in 1892 for cholera, and in 1897 for the plague.

At the beginning of the 20th century, two more intergovernmental health organizations were founded: the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 1902 (headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA), and the International Bureau of Public Health (OIHP) of the League of Nations Health Organization (headquarters) in 1907 in Paris, France). Their main functions were to disseminate information on general medical issues (especially infectious diseases) and to develop international health legislation. After the First World War, the League of Nations Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland) became operational in 1923, and at the end of World War II in July 1946, the International Conference on Health decided to establish the WHO in New York. The WHO Constitution was ratified on 7 April 1948, and since then 7 April has been celebrated as "World Health Day".

History of WHO

Quoted according to the official website:

1948: WHO assumed responsibility for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
1952–1964: WHO implemented the Global Tropical Granuloma Eradication Programme.
1974: WHO led the Onchocerciasis Elimination Programme for 30 years.
1974: The World Health Assembly adopts a resolution establishing the Expanded Programme on Immunization to ensure access to essential vaccines for children.
1975: The World Health Assembly adopted the concepts of "essential medicines" and "national medicines policy". Two years later, the Essential Medicines Lists began to appear.
1967-1979: For 12 years, the WHO fully coordinated the smallpox eradication campaign. The complete eradication of smallpox worldwide is WHO's greatest achievement.
1978: The International Conference on Primary Health Care sets the historic goal of "Health for All".
1988: Launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
1990: Homosexuality is removed from the list of mental illnesses
2003: The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is adopted.
2004: The Global Strategy on Diet, Diet, Physical Activity and Health is adopted.
2005: The World Health Assembly revise the International Health Regulations.

Structure of WHO

World Health Assembly
Executive Committee
Secretariat

WHO headquarters

WHO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Headquarters structure:

General Director
Deputy Director General
Office of the Director-General (ODG)
Departments

Family, Women's and Children's Health (FWC)
Health Systems and Innovation (HIS)
General Guidelines (GMG)
Health and Environmental Safety (HSE)
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (HTM)
Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health (NMH)
Polio, Emergencies and Country Cooperation (REC)

WHO guidance

WHO Director-General

In accordance with the WHO Constitution, the Director-General is appointed by the World Health Assembly on the recommendation of the Executive Board. WHO Member States submit their proposals with candidates to the Executive Board in the prescribed form. The Executive Committee carries out the initial consideration of proposals for candidates, compiles a short list of candidates, interviews them, and assesses the physical condition of the candidate. A working group of Member States on the process and methods for the election of the Director-General of the World Health Organization has been established.

WHO Directors-General

1948–1953 Dr. Brock Chisholm (Canada))
1953–1973 Dr. Marcolino Gómes Candão (Brazil))
1973–1988 Dr. Halfdan Mahler (Denmark))
1988–1998 Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima (Japan))
1998–2003 Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway))
2003–2006 Dr. Lee Jong-wook (Republic of Korea))
2006–2007 Dr. Anders Nordström  (English)Rus. (Sweden) (Acting)
2007—2017 Dr. Margaret Chan (China))
since 2017 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Ethiopia))

WHO's mission

Providing international health advice
Setting health standards
working with governments to strengthen national health programmes
development and transfer of appropriate health technologies, information and standards.

WHO's areas of action

Strengthening and improving national health services;
Prevention and control of noncommunicable and communicable diseases;
Protection and improvement of the environment;
Maternal and child health;
Training of medical personnel;
Development of biomedical research;
Sanitary statistics.

WHO regional offices

In accordance with Article 44 of the WHO Constitution, WHO Regional Offices were established between 1949 and 1952:

WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark,
The WHO Regional Office for the Americas, or Pan American Health Organization, in Washington, D.C., United States.
WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo, Egypt,
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia in New Delhi, India,
WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific in Manila, Philippines,
The WHO Regional Office for Africa is in Brazzaville, Congo.
This enabled the World Health Assembly (WHA) to implement the principle of "One Office, One Region". Most decisions are made at the regional level, including the discussion of the WHO budget and decision-making by the members of the meeting of a particular regional office.

Each bureau has a regional committee that meets once a year, usually in the fall. The meeting of the WHO Regional Office is attended by representatives from each Member or Associate Member, including representatives of those States that are not fully recognized. For example, the representative of Palestine participates in the meetings of the Regional Bureau for the Eastern Mediterranean. Each region is represented by a regional bureau. The Regional Office is headed by a Regional Director, who is elected by the Regional Committee. It is the responsibility of the bureau to approve decisions, although since 2004, there have been no cases of reversal of decisions of a regional committee. The process of electing regional directors has been the subject of discussions that have not been of practical use. Since 1999, regional directors have been elected for five-year terms.

The Regional Director is the head of WHO for his or her region. The Regional Director manages and/or supervises health workers and other professionals in regional offices and specialized centres. In addition to the WHO Director-General and the heads of WHO's regional offices, known as WHO representatives in the region, the Regional Director also serves as the direct oversight body in the region.

WHO's work
WHO's work is organized in the form of the World Health Assemblies, where representatives of Member States discuss critical health issues each year. Between the Assemblies, the main functional role is played by the Executive Committee, which includes representatives of 30 states (including 5 permanent members: the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and China). For discussion and consultations, WHO attracts numerous well-known experts who prepare technical, scientific and informational materials, and organize meetings of expert councils. WHO's publishing activities are widely represented, including the Director-General's activity reports, statistical materials, documents of committees and meetings, including reports of the Assembly, executive committees, collections of resolutions and decisions, etc. In addition, WHO journals are published: WHO Bulletin, WHO Chronicle, International Health Forum, World Health, Yearbook of World Health Statistics, a series of monographs and technical reports. The official languages are English and French, and the working languages (except for those mentioned) are Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and German.

The activities of the WHO are carried out in accordance with general programs for 5-7 years, planning is carried out for 2 years. At present, the priority areas are:

Development of health systems in countries in accordance with the resolution on the basic principles of national health (1970), which clearly outlines the responsibility of the state, the means of prevention, the participation of the population, the use of scientific achievements, etc.;
Training and development of the health workforce;
Development of primary health care in accordance with the WHO-UNICEF Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978);
Protecting and promoting the health of various population groups;
Environmental protection;
Control of infectious and parasitic diseases, immunization and vaccination against major epidemic diseases;
Protecting and promoting mental health;
Ensuring the health of mothers and children;
• Information on health issues;
An Expanded Program of Scientific Medical Research;
Current areas of advisory and technical assistance to member countries.
WHO has been able to address many important issues. On the initiative of the WHO and with the active support of national health systems (including the USSR), a campaign was carried out to eradicate smallpox from the world (the last case was registered in 1981); The main role of WHO in achieving these goals is to provide advisory, expert and technical assistance to countries and providing the necessary information to teach countries how to help themselves address key health challenges. To date, WHO has identified the most important areas of action for national health systems as: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, promoting safe pregnancy - maternal and child health, adolescent health, mental health, chronic diseases.

WHO funding

The sources and amounts of WHO's funding are public.

WHO's total annual budget in 2019 was about $2.5 billion. At the same time, the contributions of WHO member countries are relatively small. A large part of the WHO's budget is made up of voluntary donations, both from States Parties and from private foundations, and such donations represent earmarked funding for specific projects, the organization cannot freely dispose of such money.

The main sponsor of the WHO was the United States, with a 15% contribution. The second largest donation to the WHO is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at 10%. In 2019, the fund pledged $530 million, which will go mainly to WHO projects in Africa. The third largest funder is Gavi (Global Alliance or Vaccines and Immunization), founded by Bill Gates, which brings together various private organizations and governments. Gavi contributions to the WHO are $370 million (8%). The top 10 donors also include the United Kingdom (8%), Germany (6%) and the World Bank (3%).

According to the official WHO website, in 2020-2021, the total budget of the WHO is about 5.8 billion US dollars. Of these, 28% are regular contributions from WHO Member States, and 72% are voluntary contributions from WHO Member States, contributions from the United Nations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, foundations, local governments, the private sector, and interest income.

Since 2008, WHO's results-based management has been based on a six-year medium-term strategic plan (the first for the period 2008–2013), comprising three biennial budget periods.

In 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was suspending contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO) because it had "failed in its primary responsibility and must be held accountable". U.S. conservatives have repeatedly accused the WHO of working on behalf of China and have claimed that China finances the WHO through intermediaries (transfers large sums of money to the WHO through various foundations and organizations).