THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

The World Health Organization, or WHO, is the agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. It was founded on 7 April 1948, a date that is now celebrated every year as World Health Day. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and almost every country in the world is a member.

The organisation was created in the years after the Second World War, when many leaders believed that diseases, like wars, could not be stopped at national borders. Its constitution states that health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", a definition that was unusually broad for its time and is still widely quoted.

WHO does not usually treat patients directly. Instead, it works through several branches. It sets international standards, for example for the safety of medicines and drinking water. It collects and shares data, allowing countries to see how diseases are spreading and which treatments work. It supports national health systems with advice and training, and in emergencies it helps to coordinate the response of governments and aid organisations.

Its best-known success is the eradication of smallpox, a disease that killed hundreds of millions of people over the centuries. Through a global vaccination campaign led by WHO, the last natural case was recorded in 1977, and in 1980 the world was officially declared free of the disease. It remains the only human disease ever to be completely wiped out. WHO has also played a leading role in the fight against polio, which has been eliminated from most of the world.

However, the organisation is not without its critics. Because it depends on contributions from member states and private donors, it has limited control over its own budget, and some argue that powerful donors can influence its priorities. Others say it has sometimes reacted too slowly to new outbreaks. Supporters reply that WHO can only be as strong as its members allow it to be, since it cannot force any government to follow its advice.

Despite these debates, few people doubt that the world needs an organisation like WHO. Diseases travel faster than ever in an age of international flights, and no country, however rich, can protect its citizens on its own. In the end, global health is not a gift that one nation can give another, but a responsibility that all nations share.