World Health Organization ( WHO )

This is animated video based on the Chapter " INTERNATIONAL HEALTH" from the PARK Textbook of Community medicine.

Hi.Welcome to abmbbs..todays's topic is WHO or the World Health Organisation.....in this video we will discuss the main topics in the chapter International Health in the PARK Textbook of Community Medicine.......................Now, to understand the origins of WHO we need to 1st understand the concept of quarantine......

In 14th century Europe , people were terrified of Plague.....so ….ships suspected of harbouring the infection were detained at port for a period of 40days before they could enter the city....the idea was that, with the passage of time , the underlying infection would either manifest into full blown disease ….or die out....thus , protecting the citizens...this was called Quarantine....but there was no uniformity in the quarantine measures in the different parts of the world......so,..... in 1851 ,..... an International Sanitary Conference was convened.... at Paris.....to bring about some order &uniformity......but it failed..........

In 1902, …...a Pan American Sanitary Bureau was set up , to bring unformity in the quarantine measures in the American states.......it was the world's 1st international health agency...............it was later renamed Pan American Health Organisation..... in 1958...&, its headquarters is in Washington DC.

Next.....after the 1st world war, the Health wing of the League of nations was set up in 1923.

Then …..there was the 2nd World War.......following which the United Nations was set up.......the WHO , was, 1 of the many parts of UN.....

So,... in April 1945.....a conference was held in San Francisco ,in which …..Brazil...& China...proposed, that an international health organisation should be established......so.....on 7th April 1948......the WHO, formally came into existance.......& this day is celebrated as World Health Day.......a World Health Day theme is chosen every year , to focus attention on a specific aspect of public health for that year......for example...in 2015....it was Food safety......in 2016 it was Diabetes.....& ….in 2017 ,it is....depression....

The objective of the WHO..... is the attainment of highest levels of health by all people....it is a part of …..but ….not subordinate to the UN......it has its own constitution, own governing body & budget......Switzerland is a part of WHO but not United Nations.....

Next we come to the works of the WHO.....it helps in the prevention & control of specific diseases like......small pox....& now...polio....it helps, in the development of health services....improvement of family health...........improvement of environmental health.......maintenance of health statistics.,....like the International Classification of Diseases or ICD which is updated every 10 years............promotion of biomedical research....maintenance of health literature &......cooperation with other global organizations.....


Next, we come to the structure of the WHO.......the WHO has mainly 3 organs.......the world health assembly.....the executive board.....&....the Secretariat.....

The WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY is the supreme governing body.....it is also called the “ Health Parliament ”......it meets annually, usually in May....in Geneva....

The EXECUTIVE BOARD ,consists of 34 members , of which 1/3rd are renewed annually.....it meets twice a year.....in january....& in may....it gives effect to the decisions of the assembly....& can also take action itself in case of emergency.....
The SECRETARIAT is headed by the director general.....&...it provides technical & managerial support to member states..

The WHO is divided into 6 regions.....each headed by a Regional director......as you can see in the table...the headquarter of the south east asia region is New Delhi....,.

This brings us to the end of the topic.....now just for the sake of completion, we will discuss some other important world organisations......first comes....

UNICEF.....it stood for....United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund......it was set up to deal with the rehabilitation of children in war ravaged countries.....in 1953, it was renamed....United Nations Children's Fund.......it's headquarters is in New York....the UNICEF is actively promoting the GOBI campaign now....G for growth chart, O for ORS, B for Breastfeeding & I for immunization.

Next is the UNDP......which stands for United Nations Development Programme
There’s the UNFPA.....which stands for United Nations Fund for Population Activities.
There's the FAO......or Food & Agriculture Organization....its headquarter is in Rome
There' the ILO.......or the International Labour Organization....its headquarter is in Geneva
Finally.....there's the World Bank....it is governed by a board of governors.....&....it gives loan for projects that lead to economic growth of the country...