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The World Health Organization (WHO) was established on April 7, 1948—a day since celebrated annually as World Health Day. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
A young boy in Basutoland (now Lesotho) grabs the handles of an x-ray machine as he is examined for tuberculosis. This mobile x-ray unit was taken to African communities by the WHO.
The WHO was created out of the belief that "enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition," according to its Constitution. This poster, illustrating a 1920's health campaign, reads: "Prevent Disease: Careless spitting, coughing, sneezing, spread influenza and tuberculosis."
In 1947, the United States initiated the National Malaria Eradication Program (NMEP). By 1951, the country was free from the disease. Four years later, a major international effort along the lines of the NMEP—the Global Malaria Eradication Program—was launched by the WHO.
Ultimately, the WHO's efforts to eradicate malaria around the world failed. Malaria is still prevalent in many countries. In 2018 alone there were 228 million cases of malaria worldwide, resulting in an estimated 405,000 deaths.
In 1958, two million people were dying from smallpox every year. Pictured are villagers in Niger, West Africa, awaiting a smallpox vaccination.
The eventual eradication of smallpox remains one of the great WHO success stories: the last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the organization certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980. Pictured is a modern smallpox vaccination kit.
In 1966, the WHO moved its headquarters from the Ariana wing at the Palace of Nations in Geneva to a new, purpose-built property on Avenue Appia.
Europe was not immune to the disease. This 1962 image shows residents of the Rhondda Valley in Wales queuing for their smallpox vaccinations, after the WHO declared the valley to be an infected area.
The WHO urgently requested 56,000 units of vaccine to battle a cholera plague that began in 1947 in Egypt. Each of the large bottles seen in this photograph contain enough vaccine to treat about 6,000 people.
Measles is a highly contagious disease and affects about 20 million people a year. The WHO has been battling the condition for decades. Pictured is a child during a measles vaccination campaign led by the WHO in 1974. The 2001 initiative saw the creation of a Global Vaccine Action Plan.
HIV is spread primarily by unprotected sex. It can also be transmitted by contaminated blood transfusions, hypodermic needles, and from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding.
HIV/AIDS is considered a pandemic and continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 32 million lives so far. There is no cure or vaccine; however, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease and may lead to a near-normal life expectancy. The WHO reported that approximately 37.9 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2018.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) was first reported in 1981.
Poliomyelitis can cause muscle weakness resulting in an inability to move. In some cases paralysis occurs, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented by immunization.
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the forum through which the WHO is governed, resolved to eradicate the disease poliomyelitis (polio) by the year 2000, and created the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
While the 2000 target deadline was ultimately missed (polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan), the WHO is working with GPEI partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to achieve its goal of wiping out the disease. As of December 2019, just 125 cases of polio have been reported.
Between 2000 and 2018, 58 million lives were saved through effective diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. The Stop TB Partnership involves 1,500 partner organizations and focuses on eradicating the disease, which is still considered a global epidemic much as it was 100 years ago when this French TB awareness health campaign poster was printed.
While vaccination has drastically reduced global measles deaths (a 73% drop between 2000 and 2018 worldwide), measles is still common in many developing countries, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia, according to latest WHO data.
An international financing and partnership organization that aims to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, the Global Fund's successes include the distribution of 131 million insecticide-treated nets to combat malaria.
According the WHO, a total of 8,098 people worldwide became sick with SARS during the 2003 outbreak. Of these, 774 died. Pictured here in 2003 are Thai nurses leaving Bangkok International Airport after performing health checks on passengers.
The WHO worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a global effort to address the SARS outbreak of 2003. It also coordinated the international investigation with the assistance of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.
A WHO consultant in the field performs a lumbar puncture on a young patient to help him make his diagnosis. This simple but uncomfortable procedure can diagnose or exclude the condition. Meningitis—the inflammation of the membranes (meninges) surrounding the brain and spinal cord—can be fatal.
The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. Other outbreaks in Africa began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2017 and 2018. In July 2019, the WHO declared the Congo Ebola outbreak a world health emergency.
On March 11, 2020, the current World Health Organization director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic.
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Under its first director-general, Brock Chisholm (pictured), the WHO's initial priorities were to control the spread of malaria, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted infections, and to improve maternal and child health, nutrition, and environmental hygiene.
Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by a minute worm transmitted to humans by the bite of infected flies. It's widespread in large stretches of central Africa and Central America, and is also found in South America.
The WHO's mid-1970s river blindness program was the first step in reversing what the organization dubs as a neglected tropical disease. Here, a researcher examines adult black flies—the vector for river blindness—taken from near the River Marahoué, in the Ivory Coast.
Primarily used against tuberculosis (TB), BCG was first used medically in 1921. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines—the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system.
By 1967, the WHO was intensifying efforts to eliminate the disease. By the end of the 20th century, smallpox is estimated to have killed up to 300 million people.
The burden of onchocerciasis is profound. Here, children lead blind adult villagers in an area in Burkina Faso heavily infected with the disease.
For over 75 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been promoting global health and keeping the world safe from some of the most dangerous and infectious diseases on the planet. It's currently coordinating the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, this is what the WHO does: strive to combat the very worst diseases, illnesses, and infections, and achieve the very highest standards of health for all.
Click through the following gallery for a brief overview of the WHO's greatest achievements since it was established in 1948.
The history of the World Health Organization
WHO: promoting global health, safety, and well-being worldwide
HEALTH Who
For over 75 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been promoting global health and keeping the world safe from some of the most dangerous and infectious diseases on the planet. It's currently coordinating the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, this is what the WHO does: strive to combat the very worst diseases, illnesses, and infections, and achieve the very highest standards of health for all.
Click through the following gallery for a brief overview of the WHO's greatest achievements since it was established in 1948.