World Health Organization

World Health Organization (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. WHO was established in 1948. According to its constitution it is “the directing and coordinating authority on international health work” and is responsible for helping all peoples to attain “the highest possible levels of health”. By the early 21st century the organization had 193 member countries.

The services of the agency may be either advisory or technical. Advisory services include aid in training medical personnel and in disseminating knowledge of diseases such as influenza, malaria, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); maternal and child health; nutrition; population planning; and environmental sanitation. The agency maintains health-demonstration areas for sustained application of modern techniques to improve general health conditions and to combat specific diseases interfering with agricultural productivity and overall economic development. The technical services include biological standardization and unification of lists of drugs with directions for use, collection and dissemination of information on epidemics, special international research projects on parasitic and viral diseases, and publication of a series of technical and scientific works.

The central structure of WHO includes the policy-making body called the World Health Assembly, which consists of delegates of all member nations and meets yearly; an executive board elected by the assembly; and a secretariat, consisting of a director-general and technical and administrative staff. The agency maintains regional organizations for South East Asia, the eastern Mediterranean area, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the western Pacific area.