WHO’s work remains firmly rooted in the basic principles of the right to health and well-being for all people, as outlined in our 1948 Constitution. Our Triple Billion targets outline an ambitious plan for the world to achieve good health for all using science-based policies and programmes. We direct and coordinate the world’s response to health emergencies. The objective of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. The World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations system.
Careers
WHO promotes the development of capacities in member states to use and produce research that addresses their national needs, including through the Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet). The Global Health Observatory (GHO) has been the WHO's main portal which provides access to data and analyses for key health themes by monitoring health situations around the globe. The WHO has published various tools for measuring and monitoring the capacity of national health systems and health workforces.
According to Taiwanese publication The News Lens, on multiple occasions Taiwanese journalists have been denied access to report on the assembly. Political pressure from the PRC has led to the ROC being barred from membership of the WHO and other UN-affiliated organizations, and in 2017 to 2020 the WHO refused to allow Taiwanese delegates to attend the WHO annual assembly. This was the ROC's first participation at WHO meetings since 1971, as a result of the improved cross-strait relations since Ma Ying-jeou became the president of the Republic of China a year before. The Republic of China (ROC), whose government controlled Mainland China from 1912 to 1949 and currently controls Taiwan since 1945 following World War II, was the founding member of WHO since its inception and had represented "China" in the organization. Among the points made, it seems clear that although the prevalence of HIV transmission is declining, there is still a need for resources, health education, and global efforts to end this epidemic.
Latest on emergencies
The new database presents a great deal of information about mental health, substance abuse, disability, human rights, and the different policies, strategies, laws, and service standards being implemented in different countries. The database was launched on Human Rights Day, and is part of WHO's QualityRights initiative, which aims to end human rights violations against people with mental health conditions. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/AMRO) became the first region to develop and pass a policy on research for health approved in September 2009.
In 2024, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was the organization's major private contributor, funding 10% of its budget. The strong position of the regional offices has been criticized in WHO history for undermining its effectiveness and led to unsuccessful attempts to integrate them more strongly within 'One WHO'. The regional committee also serves as a progress review board for the actions of WHO within the Region.citation needed The felicebet bonus regional director is effectively the head of WHO for his or her region.
The executive board is composed of members technically qualified in health and gives effect to the decisions and policies of the World Health Assembly. The World Health Assembly is attended by delegations from all member states, and determines the policies of the organization. All UN member states are eligible for WHO membership, and, according to the WHO website, "other countries may be admitted as members when their application has been approved by a simple majority vote of the World Health Assembly". On 5 February 2025, Argentinian president Javier Milei announced that Argentina would also be withdrawing from WHO.
Policies and objectives
- The strong position of the regional offices has been criticized in WHO history for undermining its effectiveness and led to unsuccessful attempts to integrate them more strongly within ‘One WHO’.
- It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.
- The World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations system.
- The practice of empowering individuals to exert more control over and make improvements to their health is known as health education, as described by the WHO.
- The WHO regularly publishes a World Health Report, its leading publication, including an expert assessment of a specific global health topic.
- Our staff working in countries advise ministries of health and other sectors on public health issues and provide support to plan, implement and monitor health programmes.
- The WHO operates “Goodwill Ambassadors”; members of the arts, sports, or other fields of public life aimed at drawing attention to the WHO’s initiatives and projects.
Since 1999, regional directors serve for a once-renewable five-year term, and typically take their position on 1 February. The board must approve such appointments, although as of 2004, it had never over-ruled the preference of a regional committee. Each region has a regional committee, which generally meets once a year, normally in the autumn.
- As of 2010update, the only WHO Representative outside Europe to be a national of that country was for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (“Libya”); all other staff was international.
- WHO also aims to improve access to health research and literature in developing countries such as through the HINARI network.
- Together, we coordinate the world’s response to health emergencies, promote well-being, prevent disease and expand access to health care.
- Each region has a regional committee, which generally meets once a year, normally in the autumn.
- After more than two decades of effort, a Global Commission declared in 1979 that smallpox had been eradicated—the first disease in history to be eliminated by human effort.
Accountability and funding
WHO runs the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, targeted at improving health policy and systems. In terms of health services, WHO looks to improve "governance, financing, staffing and management" and the availability and quality of evidence and research to guide policy. An international convention on pandemic prevention and preparedness is being actively considered. Security Council resolution aimed at promoting nonviolent international cooperation during the pandemic, and mentioning the WHO. On 30 January the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), considered a "call to action" and "last resort" measure for the international community and a pandemic on 11 March.
Communicable diseases
On 8 August 2014, WHO declared that the spread of Ebola was a public health emergency; an outbreak which was believed to have started in Guinea had spread to other nearby countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. In line with a growing global trend, as documented by the OECD and established at the EU, the WHO has embraced increased public participation in health policymaking. The TDR aimed to coordinate international research into the diagnosis, treatment, and control of tropical diseases, while also building research capacity in endemic countries. During the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization, Szeming Sze, a delegate from the Republic of China, conferred with Norwegian and Brazilian delegates on creating an international health organization under the auspices of the new United Nations. The agency advocates for universal health care coverage, engagement with the monitoring of public health risks, coordinating responses to health emergencies, and promoting health and well-being generally.
World Health Assembly
WHO is mandated under two of the international drug control conventions (Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 and Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971) to carry out scientific assessments of substances for international drug control. As of 2015update, the World Health Organization has worked within the UNAIDS network and strives to involve sections of society other than health to help deal with the economic and social effects of HIV/AIDS. By the post-pandemic period, critics claimed the WHO had exaggerated the danger, spreading "fear and confusion" rather than "immediate information". A pandemic involving the H1N1 influenza virus was declared by the then director-general Margaret Chan in April 2009.
The RD manages and/or supervises a staff of health and other experts at the regional offices and in specialized centres. Aside from electing the regional director, the regional committee is also in charge of setting the guidelines for the implementation, within the region, of the health and other policies adopted by the World Health Assembly. Each regional committee of the WHO consists of all the Health Department heads, in all the governments of the countries that constitute the Region.
In January 2020 the European Union, a WHO observer, backed Taiwan's participation in WHO meetings related to the coronavirus pandemic as well as their general participation. Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party), expressed their anger at being excluded arguing that disease respects neither politics nor geography. In May 2018, the WHO denied access to its annual assembly by Taiwanese media, reportedly due to demands from the PRC. In May 2009, the Department of Health of the Republic of China was invited by the WHO to attend the 62nd World Health Assembly as an observer under the name "Chinese Taipei".
The main functions of WHO country offices include being the primary adviser of that country's government in matters of health and pharmaceutical policies. The country office consists of the WR, and several health and other experts, both foreign and local, as well as the necessary support staff. As of 2010update, the only WHO Representative outside Europe to be a national of that country was for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("Libya"); all other staff was international. During the first two years of the pandemic, American funding of the WHO declined by a quarter, although it is expected to increase during 2022 and 2023. There were 189 partnerships with international NGOs in formal "official relations" – the rest being considered informal in character. As of 2002update, a total of 473 nongovernmental organizations (NGO) had some form of partnership with WHO.
In 2007, the WHO organized work on pandemic influenza vaccine development through clinical trials in collaboration with many experts and health officials. This is in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other intergovernmental agreements, and means "empowering people, communities and civil society through inclusive participation in decision-making processes that affect health across the policy cycle and at all levels of the system." By 1967, the WHO intensified the global smallpox eradication campaign, contributing $2.4 million annually and adopting new disease surveillance methods at a time when 2 million people were dying of smallpox each year. The use of the word "world", rather than "international", emphasized the truly global nature of what the organization was seeking to achieve. The WHO has played a crucial role in coordinating the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing essential guidelines on preventive measures, supporting research on vaccines, and facilitating vaccine distribution through initiatives like COVAX.