International Health

“Nothing on earth is more

international than disease”
Paul Russel
World Health Organization
(WHO)
A specialized, non-political health agency of the
United Nations, established in 1946.
Head quarters at Geneva.
The constitution drafted by the “Technical
Preparatory Committee” under the chairmanship of
Rene Sand.
Constitution came into force on 7th April 1948, which
is celebrated every year as “ World Health Day”.
Objectives of WHO
Main:
“The attainment by all people’s of the
highest level of health”.
Objectives in the preamble of WHO
Health is a complete state of physical,
mental and social well being and not
merely the absence of disease.
No discrimination in the path of
attainment of highest health.
Good Health is for attainment of peace
and security.
Objectives in the preamble of WHO
Good Health is valued for all.
Equal development in promotion &
control of disease in all countries.
Extension to all people of the benefits of
medical, psychological and related
knowledge.
Informed opinion and active co-operation.
Membership in WHO
Open to all countries
Most of the countries are members of both WHO and
UN.
Territories which are not responsible for the conduct
of their relations may be admitted as Associate
members. Associate members participate without vote
in the deliberation of WHO.
Each member contributes yearly to the budget & each
is entitled to the services & aid the organization can
provide.
Work of WHO
Prevention and control of specific diseases.
Development of comprehensive services.
Family health, Biomedical research & Health
statistics.
Environmental Health, Health literature &
information.
Co-operation with other organizations.
Structure
The World Health Assembly

The Executive Board

The Secretariat
World Health Assembly
This is the “Health Parliament” of nations and
supreme governing body.
Annual meeting-May, venue-Geneva.
It is composed of delegates from different respective
countries and each is given the power of one vote.
Functions of World Health Assembly
International health policy and programs.
Review the work of the past year.
Approve the budget of the following year.
Approve the budget needed for the following year.
Elect Member States to designate a person to serve for
three years on the executive board and to replace the
retiring members.
The Executive Board
It had 18 members which had been incremented to 31
members by the health assembly. The board now has
34 members.
Members to be technically qualified in the field of
health.
Designated by their respective governments, but do
not represent their governments.
One third of the membership is renewed every year.
The board meets twice a year-January.
Functions
The main work is to give effect to decisions & policies
of the assembly.
It has the power to take action itself in an emergency,
such as epidemics, earthquakes and floods where
immediate action is required.
The Secretariat
Headed by the Director General
Function:
To provide member states with technical and managerial
support for their national health development
programs.
There are five Assistant Director Generals who are
assigned different tasks by the Director General.
WHO Regional Organizations
South East Asia New Delhi(India)
Africa Brazzaville Congo
The Americas Washington DC(USA)
Europe Copenhagen (Denmark)
East Mediterranean Alexandria (Egypt)
Western Pacific Manila (Philippines)
 UNICEF

United Nations International Children’s

Emergency Fund.
Specialized agency of the United Nations.
Established in 1946 by the United Nations General
Assembly.
To rehabilitate children in ravaged war countries.
Headquarter- New York.
Works in collaboration with FAO, UNDP, WHO
and UNESCO.
Provides assistance in varied fields of MCH,
nutrition & environmental sanitation.
Funding

Funding is derived voluntarily from

governmental and non-governmental
organizations.
Services
Child health
Child nutrition
Family health & Child welfare
Education (formal and non-formal)
Urban Basic Services (UBS), to upgrade basic
services (e.g., health nutrition, water supply,
sanitation & education) especially for children and
women in selected towns & cities.
GOBI
The UNICEF is promoting a campaign known as GOBI
campaign to encourage four strategies for “ child
health revolution”.
G for growth charts to better monitor child
development.
O for oral rehydration to treat all mild & moderate
dehydration.
B for breast feeding.
I for immunization against measles, diptheria, polio,
pertussis, tetanus & tuberculosis
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (UNDP)
Established in 1966.
To help poorer nations develop their human and
natural resources more fully.
The UNDP projects cover virtually every economic and
social sector-agriculture, industry, education &
science, health, social welfare.
ACTIVITIES (UNDP)

UNDP’s network links and coordinates global and

national efforts to reach these goals.
Their focus is helping countries build and share
solutions to the challenges of:
Democratic governance
Poverty reduction
Crisis prevention and recovery
Environment and energy
HIV/AIDS
FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was
formed in 1945 with headquarters in Rome.
It was the first United Nations Organization
specialized agency created to look after several areas of
world co-operation.
Aims of FAO
The chief aims of FAO are as follows:
To help nations raise living standards.
To improve nutritional status of people of all
countries.
To increase the efficiency of farming, forestry and
fisheries.
To better the condition of rural people and better the
opportunity of productive work.
International Labor Organization
(ILO)
It was established in 1919.
It is a United Nations agency dealing with labor issues,
particularly international labor standards and decent
work for all.
The International Labor Code is a collection of
international standards related to health, welfare,
living and working conditions of workers all over the
world.
Headquarters of ILO is in Geneva, Switzerland.
Purposes of ILO
To contribute to the establishment of lasting peace by
promoting social justice.
To improve, through international action, labor
conditions and living standards.
To promote economic and social stability.
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
(USAID).
The USAID was created in1961.
It is assisting in a number of projects designed to
improve the health of Indian people.
Red Cross
It is a non-political and non-official international
humanitarian organization.
It was founded by Henry Dunant.
It was initially largely confined to war victims.
It mainly tries to involve itself into activities like first
aid, in case of war like situations, MCH services.
Lately it has tried to extend its research in Disaster
Management and has designed emergency protocols.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

It is the lead United Nations agency for delivering a
world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is
safe and every young persons potential is fulfilled.
The UNFPA inputs are designed to develop national
capability for manufacture of contraceptives,
To develop population education programs, to
strengthen program management as well as improve
output of grass-root level health workers.
Introduction of innovative approaches to MCH & FP.
WORLD BANK
It was established with the purpose of helping less
developed countries raise their living standards.
The powers of the bank are vested in a Board of
Governors.
The Bank gives loans for projects that will lead to
economic growth.
The projects are usually concerned with electric
power, roads, railways, agriculture, water supply etc.
Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere
(CARE)
It was founded in North America in the wake of the
second world war in 1945.
It is one of the largest independent, non-profit, non-
sectarian international relief and development
organization.
It provides emergency aid and long term development
assistance.
The Colombo Plan
In 1950 a meeting of the commonwealth Foreign
Ministers at Colombo took place, a program was drawn
up for co-operative economic development in South
and South East Asia.
Membership comprises of 20 developing countries
within the region & 6 non-regional members.
Colombo Plan seeks to improve living standards of the
people of the area by reviewing developmental plans &
coordinating development assistance.
The SIDA is assisting the National Tuberculosis
Control Program.
The Government of Denmark is providing
assistance for the development of services under
National Blindness Control Program.
It is a philanthropic organization, its purpose is to
promote the well being of mankind throughout
the world.
The Ford Foundation has been active in the development
of rural health services and family planning.