World Health Organization PDF

An introduction to the World Health Organization Assistant professor Dr. Shahrazad S Al Jobori MB,ChB., FICSM/Community Medicine University of Kerbala College of Medicine Working for health When diplomats met to form the United N...

An introduction to the World Health Organization Assistant professor Dr. Shahrazad S Al Jobori MB,ChB., FICSM/Community Medicine University of Kerbala College of Medicine Working for health When diplomats met to form the United Nations in 1945, one of the things they discussed was setting up a global health organization. WHO’s Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day.  World Health Organization Is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. It is part of the U.N. Sustainable Development Group. The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency's governing structure and principles, states its main objective as ensuring "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with six semi-regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. WHO Abbreviation: Formation: 7 April 1948 Type: United Nations specialized agency Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland The World Health Organization (WHO) is the directing and coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations’ system. WHO experts produce health guidelines and standards, and help countries to address public health issues. WHO provides technical support and promotes health research. Through WHO, governments can jointly tackle global health problems and improve people’s well-being. 193 countries and two associate members are WHO’s membership. They meet every year at the World Health Assembly in Geneva to set policy for the Organization, approve the Organization’s budget, and every five years, to appoint the Director-General. Their work is supported by the 34-member Executive Board, which is elected by the Health Assembly. Six regional committees focus on health matters of a regional nature. Who are the partners in health? WHO and its Member States work with many partners, including UN agencies, donors, nongovernmental organizations, WHO collaborating centres and the private sector. Only through new ways of working and innovative partnerships can WHO make a difference and achieve goals. Over 8000 public health experts including doctors, epidemiologists, scientists, managers, administrators and other professionals from all over the world work for WHO in 147 country offices, six regional offices and at the headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland International Classification of Disease: WHO took over the responsibility for the International Classification of Disease (ICD), which dates back to the 1850s and was first known as the International List of Causes of Death. The ICD is used to classify diseases and other health problems and has become the international standard used for clinical and epidemiological purposes - 1967 South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard conducts the first heart transplant. - 1974 The World Health Assembly adopts a resolution to create the Expanded Programme on Immunization to bring basic vaccines to all the world’s children. The first Essential Medicines List appeared in 1977, two years after the World Health Assembly introduced the concepts of “essential drugs” and “national drug policy”. 156 countries today have a national list of essential medicines. 1979: The eradication of smallpox, a disease which had killed millions in the late 1970s is one of WHO’s proudest achievements. The campaign to eradicate the deadly disease throughout the world was coordinated by WHO between 1967 and 1979. It was the first and so far the only time that a major infectious disease has been eradicated. 1988: Global Polio Eradication Initiative established Since its launch in 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has reduced the number of cases of polio by more than 99% – from more than 350 000 per year to 1956 in 2006. Spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF, it has immunized more than two billion children thanks to the mobilization of more than 20 million volunteers and health workers. As a result, five million children are today walking, who would otherwise have been paralysed, and more than 1.5 million childhood deaths have been averted. The goal is to eradicate polio World Wide so that no child Will ever again be paralyzed by this disease WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 21 May 2003 was a historic day for global public health. After nearly four years of intense negotiations, the World Health Assembly adopted WHO’s first global public health treaty. The treaty is designed to reduce tobacco-related deaths and disease around the world. 2004 Adoption of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. Changes in diet, physical activity, and tobacco use in both rich and poor countries have dramatically increased the risks of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. More than half of all deaths worldwide each year – about 35 million out of 58 million – are caused by chronic disease. Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health WHO’s Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health is meant to help fight heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and obesity-related conditions. The strategy encourages people to be more physically active and eat healthier diets Fact: global deaths from chronic disease are expected to rise by 7% World Wide over the next ten years. International health regulations: One critical tool in the fight against the global spread of infectious disease is the International Health Regulations (IHR). Negotiated by WHO’s Member States, the IHR establish rules that countries must follow to identify disease outbreaks and stop them from spreading. In 2005, the IHR were expanded to cover new diseases such as SARS, and new strains of influenza, along with established diseases such as polio. Coming into force June 2007, WHO ask countries to build up their capacity to prevent, protect against and control disease outbreaks. The new rules also give WHO a more direct role in investigating and stopping outbreaks. WHO is working closely with countries to ensure they have the skills and people in place to carry out this work and to provide training and expertise where it is needed. Strategic health operations centre Another recent innovation is WHO’s Strategic Health Operations Centre. Using the latest technology, the centre is used during disease outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies to coordinate information and response between countries, WHO and other partners. WHO staff used the Strategic Health Operations Centre to coordinate the health response to the Tsunami disaster.