Since its founding, the United Nations has been active in global health. The World Health Organization (WHO), whose constitution entered into force on April 7, 1948, is taking the lead in this work within the UN system, which is the date on which we celebrate World Health Day every year.
From the beginning, WHO has prioritized the fight against malaria, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases, women’s and children’s health, nutrition and environmental sanitation. Many of these issues remain on WHO’s agenda, with the addition of relatively new diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer, and outbreaks of viral infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Zika fever or Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). WHO is leading the international response to pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In 1948, WHO took the lead in developing the International Classification of Diseases, which became the international standard in defining and describing diseases and general health conditions. Since its inception, WHO has contributed to many historically significant advances in global health, such as:
- Antibiotics: (1950) Beginning the era of discoveries of modern antibiotics, WHO develops recommendations for countries on their use.
- Polio: (1988) The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988 when the number of people who developed paralysis as a result of polio reached 350,000 per year. Thanks to the worldwide rollout of polio vaccines, the number of polio cases has since dropped by more than 99%.
- Smallpox: (1979) A global 12-year vaccination campaign led by WHO resulted in smallpox being eradicated.
- Tuberculosis: (1995) A campaign against tuberculosis is launched. Through early diagnosis and treatment, the campaign had saved more than 37 million lives by the end of 2013.
- AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: (2001) The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is launched with other UN agencies and major donors as a new partnership and funding mechanism, initially supported by WHO.
- Child mortality: (2006) The number of children dying before their fifth birthday was less than 10 million for the first time in history.
- Heart disease, diabetes, cancer: (2012) For the first time, WHO Member States set global targets for the prevention and treatment of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease and other non-communicable diseases.
- Ebola virus disease outbreak: (2014) The largest epidemic of Ebola virus disease strikes West Africa. The WHO secretariat launches an unprecedented campaign to combat the epidemic, sending thousands of experts and medical equipment to the region; recruiting foreign health workers and setting up mobile laboratories and treatment centers. In 2016, WHO declares no cases of Ebola virus infection in West Africa, but warns that outbreaks are likely to continue to occur and that countries in the region must remain vigilant and maintain a state of alert.
- WHO staff, which includes physicians, public health specialists, scientists, epidemiologists and other experts, work in 149 countries. They advise ministries of health on technical issues and provide support in prevention, treatment, and care.
WHO’s work covers all areas of global health, including disaster relief; responding to humanitarian emergencies; establishing International Health Regulations for countries to follow in detecting and controlling disease outbreaks; preventing chronic disease; and achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.