This document provides information about the World Health Organization (WHO). It discusses that WHO was established in 1948 and is a specialized UN agency that coordinates international public health. Its headquarters are in Geneva. Membership is open to all countries and there are currently 194 member states. The key structures of WHO are the World Health Assembly, Executive Board, and Secretariat. It also outlines WHO's agenda, role, publications, and important world health days.

1. Presentation By -
Aditya V. Parmar
Final Year
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3. INTRODUCTION
 The World Health Organization is a specialized
agency within the charter of United Nations.
 WHO was established on 7th April 1948.
 The headquarters of WHO is located in
Geneva.
 WHO serves as the directing and coordinating
authority for International health matters and
public health.
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5. MEMBERSHIP IN WHO
 The membership in WHO is open to all countries,
with non-self-governing territories as associate
members.
 In 1948 WHO had only 56 member countries.
 India became a member on 12th January, 1948.
 As of January 1998, WHO had 191 members and 2
associate members.
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6. STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF WHO
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STRUCTURE OF WHO
WHO
HEALTH
ASSEMBLY
THE
EXECUTIVE
BOARD
THE
SECRETARIAT

7. STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF WHO
1) The World Health Assembly (Parliament) :
 The world health assembly is the supreme decision
making body for WHO.
 It generally meets in Geneva in may each year, and is
attended by delegations from all 193 member states.
 The health assembly appoints the Director-General.
 Supervises the financial policies of the organization
and reviews and approves the proposed program
budget.
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8. 2) The Executive Board :
 The executive board is composed of 34 members
technically qualified in the field of health.
 Members are elected for 3 year terms.
 The main functions of the board are to give effect to
the decisions and policies of the health assembly, to
advise it and generally to facilitate its work
3) The Secretariat :
 The secretariat of WHO is staffed by some 8000
health and other experts and support staff on fixed-
term appointment, working at headquarters in the 6
regional offices.
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9. REGIONAL OFFICE OF WHO HEADQUARTERS
African Region Brazzaville, Congo
Region of the Americas Washington D.C, USA
South East Asia Region New Delhi, India
European Region Copenhagen, Denmark
Eastern Mediterranean
Region
Cairo, Egypt
Western Pacific Region Manila, Philippines
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10. THE WHO AGENDA
1) Promoting Development :
• WHO activities aimed at health development give
priority to health outcomes in poor, disadvantaged or
vulnerable groups.
• Preventing and treating chronic diseasesand
addressing the neglected tropical diseases.
2) Fostering Health Security :
• Shared vulnerability to health security threats
demands collective action.
• One of the greatest threats to international health
security arises from outbreaks of emerging and
epidemic-prone diseases. 10

11. 3) Strengthening health systems :
• For health improvement to operate as a poverty-
reduction strategy, health services must reach poor
and undeserved populations.
• Health systems in many parts of the worldare unable
to do so, making the strengthwning of health
systems a high priority for WHO.
4) Harnessing research, information & evidence :
• Evidence provides the foundation for setting
priorities, defining strategies and measuring results.
• WHO generates health information to set norms and
standards, articulate evidence based policy options
and monitor the evolving global health situation.
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12. 5) Enhancing partnership :
• WHO carries out its work with the support and
collaboration of many partners, including UN
agencies and other international organizations,
donors, civil society and the private sector.
6) Improving performance :
• Who participates in ongoing reforms aimed at
improving its efficiency and effectiveness, both at the
international level and within countries.
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13. THE ROLE OF WHO
IN PUBLIC HEALTH
 Providing leadership on matters critical to health
and engaging in partnerships where joint action is
needed,
 Shaping the research agenda and stimulating the
generation, translation and disemmination of
valuable knowledge.
 Setting norms and standards and promoting and
monitoring their implementation.
 Articulating ethical and evidence based policy
options.
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14.  Providing technical support, catalizing change, and
building sustainable institutional capacity.
 Monitoring the health situation and assessing health
trends.
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15. KEY WHO PUBLICATIONS
 The World Health Report: Annual report with an
expert assessment of global health including
statistics. Focuses on a particular theme every year.
 International Travel and Health: Publication on
health risks for international travellers,
vaccination requirements and precautions to take.
 International Health Regulations: Latest
edition of the public health regulations that are
legally binding on WHO member states.
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16.  The International Classification of Diseases: The
International standard Diagnostic classification for
epidemiological and health management purposes.
 International Pharmacopoeia: Collection of qaulity
specifications for pharmaceutical substances and
dosage forms, for reference or adaptation by WHO
Member States.
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17. WHO JOURNALS
 Bulletin of The World Health Organization:
Monthly journal with peer-reviewed papers. Focus on
developing countries.
 Weekly Epidemiological Record: Epidemiological
information on cases and outbreaks of communicable
diseases.
 WHO Drug Information: Quarterly journal on topics
relating to medicines development and regulation.
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18. GLOBAL ORAL HEALTH DATABASE
 The Oral Health Unit of WHO was established in 1956.
 The WHO Global Oral Health Data Bankwas
established in 1969.
 The bank emerged from gathering of information
from surveys.
 Over the past decades, WHO has encouraged member
states to report information on disease level for
making international comparisons.
 To ensure data of high validity and reliability, WHO
has designed basic instruments and record forms for
use in the collection of clinical data. (WHO basic Oral
Health Surveys.)
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19. IMPORTANT WORLD HEALTH DAYS
DAYS IMPORTANCE
30th JANUARY ANTILEPROSY DAY
7th APRIL WORLD HEALTH DAY
22nd APRIL
WORLD HABITAT DAY
31st MAY WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY
1st JULY DOCTOR’S DAY
11th JULY WORLD POPULATION DAY
24th SEPTEMBER INTERNATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY
2nd OCTOBER ANTI-DRUG ADDICTION DAY
13th OCTOBER INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER
REDUCTION
1st DECEMBER WORLD AIDS DAY
11th DECEMBER UNICEF DAY
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20. THANK YOU
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