For nearly seven decades, important discussions have been held at the World Health Assembly, where numerous resolutions on WHO’s program of work and budget are approved or denied. In 2015, the assembly set the stage for WHO emergency response reforms. Devex took a look back at some of the milestones that have taken place at the WHA throughout the years, as well as some historic moments in WHO’s history

1. HOW WELL DO
YOU KNOW THE
WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION?

2. THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S
EMBLEM, WHICH SHOWS A STAFF WITH A
SNAKE COILED AROUND IT PLACED IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE U.N.’S FAMED OLIVE BRANCH
SYMBOL, WAS ADOPTED AT THE FIRST WORLD
HEALTH ASSEMBLY IN JUNE 1948. THIRTEEN
YEARS LATER, THE ASSEMBLY AGREED TO
ADOPT AN OFFICIAL FLAG FOR THE
ORGANIZATION CONTAINING THE SAME
SYMBOL.
1948

3. RAJKUMARI AMRIT KAUR WAS THE FIRST
WOMAN TO BE WHA PRESIDENT. SHE WAS A
FREEDOM FIGHTER WHO BECAME SECRETARY
TO MAHATMA GANDHI. POST-BRITISH RULE,
KAUR SERVED FOR A DECADE AS INDIA’S
HEALTH MINISTER.
1950

4. AT THE FOURTH WHA IN 1951, MEMBER STATES
AGREED TO INCREASE THE DIRECTOR-
GENERAL’S SALARY TO $20,000. TODAY, THE
POSITION HAS AN ANNUAL SALARY IN THE
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. IN
2006, AT A SPECIAL SESSION OF THE WORLD
HEALTH ASSEMBLY TO SELECT A NEW
DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOLLOWING THE
UNTIMELY DEATH OF DR. LEE JONG-WOOK, DR.
MARGARET CHAN’S ANNUAL SALARY WAS
PEGGED AT $270,945.
1951

5. MARCOLINO CANDAU WAS ELECTED IN 1953 AS
THE SECOND WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL. THE
BRAZILIAN DOCTOR WOULD BECOME THE U.N.
HEALTH AGENCY’S LONGEST SERVING HEAD. HE
WAS REELECTED TO THE POST FOR THREE
SUCCESSIVE TERMS — UNTIL 1973. THE TWO-
TERM LIMIT ON REAPPOINTMENTS OF THE
DIRECTOR-GENERAL WAS NOT YET IN EFFECT
AT THE TIME.
1953

6. AT THE 11TH WHA, THE UNITED STATES MET
SUCCESS IN ITS PROPOSAL TO MAKE
AMENDMENTS TO THE ASSEMBLY’S RULE 67.
THE PROPOSAL WAS FOR MEMBER STATES TO
CONSIDER DECISIONS ON THE WHO’S ANNUAL
BUDGET AS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION AND
THEREFORE REQUIRE TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY
VOTE AS PART OF THE ASSEMBLY’S RULES OF
PROCEDURE.
1958

7. IN 1964, MEMBER STATES ADOPTED
RESOLUTION WHA 17.50, WHICH SUSPENDS THE
VOTING PRIVILEGES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN
GOVERNMENT AT THE WORLD HEALTH
ASSEMBLY. THE GOVERNMENT WAS NOT ABLE
TO EXERCISE ITS VOTING RIGHTS UNTIL 1994,
WHEN THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY ABOLISHED
ITS APARTHEID POLICY.
1964

8. IN 1966, THE WHO’S HEADQUARTERS BUILDING
IN GENEVA WAS INAUGURATED. IT WAS
PREVIOUSLY HOUSED UNDER THE U.N.’S
PALACE OF NATIONS BUILDING.
1966

9. THE INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS
WERE ADOPTED IN 1969, REPLACING THE
INTERNATIONAL SANITARY REGULATIONS. THE
IHR WAS INTENDED TO MONITOR, PREVENT
AND CONTROL GLOBAL HEALTH THREATS
RELATING TO CHOLERA, PLAGUE AND YELLOW
FEVER. IN 2005, AT THE 58TH WHA, A REVISION
OF THE IHR WAS ADOPTED BY MEMBER STATES,
EXPANDING ITS SCOPE TO INCLUDE EXISTING,
NEW AND RE-EMERGING DISEASES.
1969

10. THE WHA DECLARED THE GLOBAL
ERADICATION OF SMALLPOX.
1980

11. NEWLY INCUMBENT WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL
HIROSHI NAKAJIMA PROPOSED TO MOVE THE
CONDUCT OF FUTURE WHAS TO LATER IN THE
YEAR, POSSIBLY OCTOBER OR NOVEMBER, TO
CUT DOWN ON THE GROWING NUMBER OF
POLITICAL ISSUES BEING DELIVERED AT THE
ASSEMBLY, SUCH AS CALLS FOR THE
RECOGNITION OF A GOVERNMENT OR STATE,
OR DISPUTES OVER TERRITORIES. HIS
PROPOSAL WASN’T ADOPTED.
1989

12. MEMBER STATES ADOPTED A RESOLUTION
CALLING ON THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO
DISCUSS WITH THE U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL
MEASURES TO BAN THE SALE OF ALL KINDS OF
TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN ALL BUILDINGS
OWNED, OPERATED OR CONTROLLED BY THE
UNITED NATIONS.
1993

13. UNAIDS WAS CREATED IN RESPONSE TO CALLS
MADE BY THE WHO ON THE NEED FOR A JOINT
PROGRAM ON HIV AND AIDS THAT WOULD
COORDINATE THE ACTIVITIES OF DIFFERENT
U.N. BODIES.
1996

14. THE WHA ENDORSED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO STOP TB, MORE
COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE STOP TB
PARTNERSHIP.
2000

15. ALL 192 MEMBER STATES UNANIMOUSLY
ADOPTED THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON
TOBACCO CONTROL, WHICH REQUIRES
COUNTRIES TO IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS ON
TOBACCO ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION,
INCLUDING ON PRODUCT LABELING. IT’S THE
FIRST INTERNATIONAL TREATY NEGOTIATED
UNDER WHO.
2003

16. THE LATE DR. LEE JONG-WOOK, THE SIXTH
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF WHO, SUFFERED A
BLOOD CLOT IN THE BRAIN THE WEEKEND
BEFORE THE 59TH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
IN 2006 AND DIED ON THE ASSEMBLY’S
OFFICIAL OPENING DAY.
2006

17. THE PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY OF
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN, A DECLARATION
MADE BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR A
SERIOUS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH CRISES, WAS
FIRST USED IN 2009 FOR THE SWINE FLU
EPIDEMIC SINCE THE REVISION OF IHR IN 2005.
2009

18. CHAN COMMITTED TO A SET OF REFORMS IN
RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY
INDEPENDENT REVIEW COMMITTEES AND THE
EXECUTIVE BOARD ON ITS EMERGENCY
RESPONSE WORK.
2015

19. MEMBER STATES WILL DECIDE WHETHER TO
ADOPT OR REJECT THE FIRST EVER VIRAL
HEPATITIS STRATEGY.2016