World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It helps countries work together on health problems and emergencies. The WHO is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and has offices worldwide. Only countries can join the WHO, and it is the largest group for health issues.

The WHO was created to help everyone stay healthy. It began on 1 September 1948. The WHO took over from older health groups and started major work in 1951.

The WHO has helped the world with big health successes, such as stopping smallpox and almost stopping polio. It also helped make a vaccine for Ebola. Today, the WHO works on many health issues, including diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as heart disease, cancer, healthy eating, and substance abuse. The WHO believes everyone should have access to health care.

The WHO is led by the World Health Assembly, a group of its 192 member countries. This group chooses leaders, sets goals, and decides the organization’s budget and activities. The WHO gets most of its money from member countries and some from private donors.

History

Origin and founding

Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, the first president of the UN Economic and Social Council in 1946, helped start the World Health Organization (WHO). Under his leadership, the council began an international meeting that created the WHO as a special part of the United Nations.

For many years, from 1851 to 1938, countries held meetings called the International Sanitary Conferences to discuss health problems. The first meeting in Paris focused mainly on cholera. Over time, these meetings talked about many diseases, including yellow fever, tuberculosis, and typhoid. These meetings led to the creation of new health groups. After World War II, all the health groups came together to form the WHO.

The WHO has been very important in fighting big health problems like the COVID-19 pandemic. It gave advice on how to stay safe and helped with research on vaccines.

Establishment

In 1945, during a big meeting about the United Nations, a delegate from the Republic of China suggested starting an international health group under the United Nations. After some discussion, leaders decided to call it the "World" Health Organization to show it was for everyone. In 1946, many countries signed the WHO’s rules, and it officially started working in 1948.

The WHO’s first jobs were to stop the spread of diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, and to help mothers and children stay healthy. It also worked on getting good health information.

In 1959, the WHO made an agreement with another group to work together on health topics.

Operational history

In 1947, the WHO started a way to share health information. In the 1950s, it began big campaigns to stop diseases like tuberculosis and smallpox. By 1979, smallpox was gone forever because of the WHO’s work.

The WHO also started programs to help with diseases like diabetes, cancer, and tropical diseases. In the 1980s and 1990s, it focused on helping people with HIV/AIDS.

In 2002, the WHO updated its rules to better handle new health dangers. In 2020, it declared the COVID-19 outbreak a big health emergency and worked to help the world respond.

In 2024, the WHO said that mpox, a disease that spread in Africa, was a big health emergency. But by 2025, it said the emergency was over.

In 2026, the United States decided to leave the WHO.

Policies and objectives

The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to help everyone stay healthy. It tracks important life events, like births and deaths, through a system called civil registration and vital statistics.

Since the late 20th century, groups like the World Bank and the Gates Foundation have joined in global health work. This has changed the WHO's role, and there are new ideas about its work.

The WHO includes everyone in health decisions, following goals set by the United Nations. This means letting people and communities help make health rules.

Communicable diseases

In the 1970s, the WHO changed its plan for malaria but still works to control it. It watches malaria cases and tests new ways to fight the disease. Tools like mosquito nets and medicines help prevent and treat malaria, especially for pregnant women and young children.

In 1988, the WHO started a plan to stop polio. With help from groups like Rotary International and UNICEF, it has reduced polio cases a lot. The WHO continues to vaccinate children and watch for any new cases.

Between 1990 and 2010, the WHO helped reduce tuberculosis deaths. Over 46 million people have been treated since 2005. The WHO works with countries to improve testing, treatment, and medicine supplies.

Non-communicable diseases

The WHO focuses on preventing and reducing diseases that are not spread from person to person, like heart disease and mental health issues. These diseases cause many deaths worldwide.

Environmental health

The WHO notes that many people die because of unhealthy environments. Factors like polluted air and water contribute to many diseases. The WHO works to improve living conditions and reduce these risks.

Life course and lifestyle

The WHO helps people stay healthy at every age, from pregnancy to old age. It also works to stop harmful habits like smoking, drinking, and unhealthy eating.

Surgery and trauma care

The WHO promotes safety on roads to prevent injuries. It also supports better surgery and emergency care around the world.

Emergency work

The WHO’s main goal during emergencies is to work with countries to save lives and reduce sickness and injury.

Health policy

The WHO helps countries make good health rules. It creates tools and standards to support health policies and publishes important health classifications used around the world.

Digital Health

The WHO works with other United Nations groups on digital health, including projects with the International Telecommunication Union.

Policy packages

The WHO has created several plans to help countries improve health in specific areas, like activity levels, heart health, and controlling tobacco use.

Governance and support

The WHO works with other countries and groups to achieve its goals. It also builds itself as a strong organization that can learn and change.

Public health education and action

The WHO teaches people about health and marks important health days each year, like World Health Day on April 7. These days focus on topics like diseases spread by insects or healthy aging.

Data handling and publications

The WHO collects health data from many countries to understand health problems and help make better decisions. It publishes reports and journals to share this information with the world.

The WHO also has a database called MiNDbank, launched on Human Rights Day in 2013, which shares information about mental health policies and laws from different countries.

The WHO publishes a major report each year called the World Health Report, along with other journals and tools to measure health systems. It also works on a strategy to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 and has a database to track tobacco control efforts.

The WHO is also working to include traditional medicine in its classifications.

The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer studies the causes of cancer and shares data about cancer worldwide. It identifies things that can cause cancer and studies how the environment affects cancer in people.

Structure and governance

The World Health Organization is part of the United Nations Development Group.

Membership

As of March 2026, the WHO has 192 member states. Most of these are countries that are also members of the United Nations, except for Argentina, Liechtenstein, and the United States. Two additional countries, the Cook Islands and Niue, are also members even though they are not part of the United Nations. No new members have joined since Tuvalu in 2023. To become a member, a country must agree to follow the WHO's rules. There are also two associate members: Puerto Rico and Tokelau. Several other countries have observer status, meaning they can watch but not fully take part. Palestine is an observer, and the Holy See also attends as an observer.

Member states send groups of people to the World Health Assembly, which is the main decision-making body of the WHO. The Assembly decides the organization's policies.

World Health Assembly and Executive Board

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the main decision-making body of the WHO. It meets once a year in Geneva and chooses the director-general every five years. The Assembly also decides on important policies and reviews reports from the executive board.

The executive board helps carry out the Assembly's decisions. It has 34 members who are experts in health. The board gives advice and helps the Assembly with its work.

Director-General

Main article: Director-General of the World Health Organization

The director-general is the head of the WHO and is chosen by the World Health Assembly for a five-year term. The current director-general is Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who started in 2017.

Global institutions

The WHO has set up special institutions to help with research. One of these is the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Personnel

The WHO has about 7,000 workers in 149 countries. They help carry out the WHO's goals.

Goodwill Ambassadors

The WHO has special helpers called "Goodwill Ambassadors." These are famous people from arts, sports, or other fields who help share the WHO's messages. Some current ambassadors include Jet Li, Nancy Brinker, and Peng Liyuan.

Financing and partnerships

The WHO gets money from its member states and other donors. Big supporters include Germany, the Gates Foundation, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission. The WHO also works with many outside groups to help with its projects.

World headquarters and offices

The World Health Organization (WHO) is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The building there was designed by a Swiss architect and opened in 1966. In 2017, WHO started a project to redesign and expand its main office.

The WHO has offices in many countries and regions. It works with groups like the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. It also has special offices in places such as Lyon, France, and Kobe, Japan. These offices help the WHO give advice on health matters to governments around the world.

The WHO has six regional offices that help manage its work in different parts of the world. These offices were created between 1949 and 1952. Each region has a committee that meets once a year to discuss important health issues and decide on leaders for the regional office. The regional directors guide the work of WHO in their areas and oversee the country offices.

Private funding

In 2024, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was the biggest private donor to the World Health Organization. It gave 10% of the organization's budget.