The World Health Organization (WHO) is a United Nations specialised organisation in charge of international public health. According to the WHO Constitution, the organization's major goal is "the attainment of the highest attainable level of health by all peoples." It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has six regional offices as well as 150 field offices across the world.
The WHO was founded on April 7, 1948. On July 24, that year, the World Health Assembly (WHA), the agency's governing body, had its inaugural meeting. The WHO absorbed the assets, employees, and responsibilities of the League of Nations' Health Organization and the Office International d'Hygiène Publique, as well as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). After a large influx of financial and technological resources, it began construction in earnest in 1951.
The WHO's role includes campaigning for universal health care, monitoring public health hazards, coordinating health-emergency responses, and promoting health and well-being. It gives nations technical support, establishes worldwide health standards, and gathers data on global health challenges. The World Health Report is a periodical that gives analyses of global health issues. The WHO also functions as a venue for health-related debates.
The WHO has been at the forefront of major public health triumphs, including the eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of polio, and the discovery of an Ebola vaccine. Its current goals include communicable illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, COVID-19, malaria, and TB, as well as noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer; a healthy diet, nutrition, and food security; occupational health; and drug misuse. The World Health Assembly, the organization's decision-making body, elects and advises an executive board of 34 health professionals. It appoints the director-general, establishes objectives and priorities, and approves the budget and operations. The producer-director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia is the director-general.
The WHO is funded by donations from member countries (both assessed and voluntary) and private contributors. Its overall approved budget for 2020–2021 is more than $7.2 billion, the vast bulk of which comes from voluntary contributions from member nations. Contributions are calculated using a method that considers GDP per capita. Germany (which gave 12.18 percent of the budget), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (11.65 percent), and the United States were among the major contributors (7.85 percent ).
The WHO achieves this goal through the functions outlined in its Constitution:
- Act as the directing and coordinating authority for international health work;
- Establish and maintain effective collaboration with the United Nations, specialised agencies, governmental health administrations, professional groups, and such other organisations as may be deemed appropriate; and
- Assist governments in strengthening health services upon request.
- To provide appropriate technical assistance and, in emergencies, necessary aid upon the request or acceptance of governments;
- To provide or assist in providing, upon the request of the United Nations, health services and facilities to special groups, such as the peoples of trust territories;
- To establish and maintain such administrative and technical services as may be required, including epidemiological and statistical services; and
- to stimulate and advance research and development.
- To promote, in collaboration with other specialised agencies as needed, the prevention of accidental injuries;
- To promote, in collaboration with other specialised agencies as needed, the improvement of nutrition, housing, sanitation, recreation, economic or working conditions, and other aspects of environmental hygiene;
- To promote collaboration among scientific and professional groups that contribute to the advancement of health.
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