The World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by all 61 countries of the United Nations by 22 July 1946. As of 2013, the WHO has 194 member states

The WHO has achieved an impressive record in pursuing its main aim, especially in the battle against some of the world's most virulent diseases. Its most remarkable success has been the campaign against smallpox and malaria, the former now completely eradicated from the earth.

One of the main services carried out by the WHO is the service of epidemic warnings. The WHO gathers information and broadcasts it daily by radio to health authorities, ports, airports and ships at sea. The WHO also informs national health services about outbreaks of viral diseases such as influenza and poliomyelitis.

Besides epidemic information the WHO also provides services which are needed by all the countries, such as an international quarantine measures, world health statistics, international standardization of medicines and vaccines, development of medical research and technical publication program.

Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; the elimination of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and aging; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; occupational health; substance abuse.

The WHO also works to "reduce morbidity and mortality and improve health during key stages of life, including pregnancy, childbirth, the neonatal period, childhood and adolescence.

In recent years, the emphasis has shifted to the long-term tasks of building up permanent health services and improving environmental conditions to eliminate the causes of diseases, build up resistance. In other words, the stress is more on prevention than on cure.

The WHO Member States appoint delegations to the World Health Assembly, The WHO’s supreme decision-making body. The World Health Assembly is the legislative and supreme body of the WHO. Based in Geneva, it typically meets yearly in May.