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World Health Organization

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Community organisations

                      World Health Organization
                  Flag of World Health Organization
   Flag of World Health Organization
   Headquarters       Geneva, Switzerland
   Membership         193 member states
   Official languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and
                      Spanish
   Secretary-General
   Formation          7 April 1948
   Official website   www.who.int

   The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the
   United Nations, acting as a coordinating authority on international
   public health, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Historically, WHO
   inherited much of the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the
   Health Organization (HO), which had been an agency of the League of
   Nations. The WHO was established by the UN on 7 April 1948. The
   Director-General Elect is Dr. Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun. She takes up
   her official duties on 4 January 2007. Dr Anders Nordström, of Sweden,
   continues as Acting Director-General until then.

Mission

   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, and to promote the
   general health of the peoples of the world. As well as coordinating
   international efforts to monitor outbreaks of infectious disease such
   as SARS, malaria, and AIDS, it also has programs 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 organization has already endorsed
   the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe from October
   3, 2006, making it an international standard.

   WHO also compiles the widely followed International Classification of
   Diseases (ICD). The tenth revision of the ICD was released in 1992 and
   a searchable version is available online on the WHO website, although
   it is not comprehensive. Later revisions are indexed and available in
   hardcopy versions. The WHO does not permit simultaneous classification
   in two separate areas.

   The constitution of WHO defines health as a state of complete physical,
   mental and social well-being, and not as consisting only of the absence
   of disease or infirmity or mental retardation.

   In addition to its work in eradicating disease, WHO also carries out
   campaigns — for example, to boost consumption of fruits and 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 recommendation .

   In addition to 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 WHO to issue binding scientific and medical
   assessments of psychoactive drugs and recommend how they should be
   regulated. In this way, WHO acts as a check on the power of the drug
   policymaking Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

Structure

   WHO Headquarters in Geneva.
   Enlarge
   WHO Headquarters in Geneva.

   WHO Member States 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 34 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

   WHO has 193 Member States, including all UN Member States except
   Liechtenstein, and 2 non-UN-members, Niue and the Cook Islands.
   Territories that are not UN Member States may join as Associate Members
   (with full information but limited participation and voting rights) if
   approved by an Assembly vote: Puerto Rico and Tokelau are Associate
   Members. Entities may also be granted observer status - examples
   include the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Holy See
   (Vatican City).

   The Republic of China (Taiwan), which was in effect expelled from the
   UN in 1971 (and from the WHO a year later), has been actively
   campaigning for observer status under the name "Taiwan Health Entity",
   against the will of the People's Republic of China, which replaced the
   ROC in the WHO in 1972 and sees the participation of Taiwan as
   violation of its One-China Policy. The ROC government contends that the
   PRC does not represent the interests of the people on Taiwan and that
   non-state entities such as Niue are members.

Funding

   WHO is financed by contributions from member states and from donors. In
   recent years, WHO's work has involved more collaboration, currently
   around 80 such partnerships, with NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry,
   as well as with foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates
   Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Voluntary contributions to
   the WHO from national and local governments, foundations and NGOs,
   other UN organizations, and the private sector (including
   pharmaceutical companies), now exceed that of assessed contributions
   (dues) from its 193 member nations.

People

   The day-to-day work of WHO is carried out by its Secretariat, which is
   staffed by some 8,500 health and other experts and support staff,
   working at headquarters, in the six regional offices, and in the
   individual representation offices in 147 countries. WHO is also
   represented by WHO Goodwill Ambassadors.

Regional Offices

   Regional offices and regions of the WHO: ██ Africa; HQ: Brazzaville,
   Congo ██ Americas; HQ: Washington, DC, USA ██ Eastern Med.; HQ: Cairo,
   Egypt ██ Europe; HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark ██ South East Asia; HQ: New
   Delhi, India ██ Western Pacific; HQ: Manila, Philippines
   Enlarge
   Regional offices and regions of the WHO: ██ Africa; HQ: Brazzaville,
   Congo ██  Americas; HQ: Washington, DC, USA ██ Eastern Med.; HQ: Cairo,
   Egypt ██ Europe; HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark ██ South East Asia; HQ: New
   Delhi, India ██ Western Pacific; HQ: Manila, Philippines

   Quite uncharacteristically for a UN Agency, the six (6) Regional
   Offices of WHO have a remarkable amount of autonomy. Each Regional
   Office is headed by a Regional Director (RD), who is elected by the
   Regional Committee for that Region, for a once-renewable five-year
   term. The name of the RD-elect is then transmitted to the WHO Executive
   Board, at the headquarters in Geneva, which proceeds to confirm the
   appointment. It is rare that an elected Regional Director not be
   confirmed.

   The Regional Committee of WHO for each region consists of all the
   Health Department heads, in all the governments of the countries that
   constitute the Region. Aside from electing the Regional Director, the
   Regional Committee is also in charge of setting the guidelines for the
   implementation of all the Health and other policies adopted by the
   World Health Assembly, within their region. The Regional Committee also
   serves as a progress review board for the actions of WHO within the
   Region.

   The Regional Director is effectively the head of the WHO for their
   particular region. The RD manages and/or supervises a staff of health
   and other experts, at the regional headquarters and in specialized
   centers. The RD is also the direct supervising authority —
   concomitantly with the WHO Director General — of all the heads of WHO
   country offices within their region, known as WHO Representatives.

   The Regional Offices are:
     * Regional Office for Africa ( AFRO)^I, with headquarters in
       Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. AFRO includes most of Africa, with
       the exception of Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
       and Morocco which belong to EMRO. Somalia is also not counted as it
       does not have an official government, though it is in the process
       of getting one.
     * Regional Office for Europe ( EURO), with headquarters in
       Copenhagen, Denmark.
     * Regional Office for South East Asia ( SEARO), with headquarters in
       New Delhi, India. North Korea is served by SEARO.
     * Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean ( EMRO), with
       headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. EMRO includes the countries of
       Africa, and particularly in the Maghreb, that are not included in
       AFRO, as well as the countries of the Middle East.
     * Regional Office for Western Pacific ( WPRO), with headquarters in
       Manila, Philippines. WPRO covers all the Asian countries not served
       by SEARO and EMRO, and all the countries in Oceania. South Korea is
       served by WPRO.
     * Regional Office for the Americas ( AMRO), with headquarters in
       Washington, DC, United States of America. It is better known as the
       Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO. Since it predates the
       establishment of WHO, PAHO is by far the most autonomous of the 6
       regional offices.

Country Offices

   The World Health Organization operates 147 country and liaison offices,
   in all its regions. The presence of a country office is generally
   motivated by a need, stated by the member country. There will generally
   be one WHO country office in the capital, occasionally with
   antenna-offices in the provinces or sub-regions of that country.

   The country office is headed by a WHO Representative (WR), who is not a
   national of that country, and who holds ranks, and is due privileges
   and immunities, similar to those of a Head of Diplomatic Mission or an
   Ambassador. In most countries, the WR (like Representatives of other UN
   agencies) is de facto treated like an Ambassador.

   The country office consists of the WR, and several health and other
   experts, both foreign and local, as well as the necessary support
   staff.

   The main functions of WHO country offices include being the primary
   adviser of that country's government in matters of health and
   pharmaceutical policies, play a coordinating role for the action of
   other International Liaison offices serve largely the same purpose as
   country offices, but generally on a smaller scale. These are often
   found in countries that do want WHO presence and cooperation, but do
   not have the major health system flaws that require the presence of a
   full-blown country office. Liaison offices are headed by a liaison
   officer, who is a national from that particular country, without
   diplomatic immunity.

Some WHO-private sector partnerships

     * PATH: Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (
       http://www.path.org)
     * IAVI: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative ( http://www.iavi.org)
     * MMV: Medicines for Malaria Venture ( http://www.mmv.org)
     * MVI: Malaria Vaccine Initiative ( http://www.malariavaccine.org)
     * TB Alliance: Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (
       http://www.tballiance.org)
     * Aeras: Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation ( http://aeras.org)
     * IPM: International Partnership for Microbicides (
       http://www.ipm-microbicides.org)
     * PDVI: Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative ( http://www.pdvi.org)
     * FIND: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (
       http://www.finddiagnostics.org)
     * IOWH: Institute for One World Health (
       http://www.oneworldhealth.org)
     * DNDi: Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (
       http://www.dndi.org)

Directors-General of WHO

   The late Lee Jong-wook, past Director-General of the World Health
   Organization
   Enlarge
   The late Lee Jong-wook, past Director-General of the World Health
   Organization
             Name                Country          Term of Office
   Brock Chisholm            Canada          1948–1953
   Marcolino Gomes Candau    Brazil          1953–1973
   Halfdan T. Mahler         Denmark         1973–1988
   Hiroshi Nakajima          Japan           1988–1998
   Gro Harlem Brundtland     Norway          1998–2003
   Lee Jong-wook             South Korea     2003–2006 (died on 5/22)
   Anders Nordström (acting) Sweden          2006
   Margaret Chan             Hong Kong,China January 4, 2007–2012

     * Former Directors General

Other notable persons associated with WHO

     * Carlo Urbani
     * Andrija Štampar
     * David Nabarro
     * Arata Kochi
     * Jonathan Mann
     * Velma Kay Lopez

Personnel policy

   The World Health Organization is an agency of the United Nations and as
   such shares a core of common personnel policy with other agencies.

Smokers

   The World Health Organization has recently banned the recruitment of
   cigarette smokers, to promote the principle of a tobacco-free work
   environment.

Statistics

   Statistics published by the WHO are largely based on official
   government figures .

   Retrieved from "
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   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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