The World Health Organization (WHO) - Essay Example

?THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations was established around1946-1948, with its headquarters at Geneva, with the aim of building a post-war system of international cooperation. The WHO was created through a historical process that began in the nineteenth century and developed through the twentieth century by the establishment of a number of international sanitary bodies. The World Health Organization was conceived to function as the central international organization in the domain of international health cooperation. Its extensive functions and powers ensured guidance in health care and related areas as well as coordination of international health work at the global level (Burci & Vignes 2004). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to make a profile of the World Health Organization, outline how the organization works, and describe its impact globally. The World Health Organization The World Health Organization admits all sovereign states, including those not belonging to the United Nations, to full membership; it also admits associate membership to territories that are not self-governing. There are 193 member nations. The WHO is governed by the World Health Assembly consisting of representatives of all the member nations, who meet at least once a year; an executive board elected by the World Health Assembly; and a secretariat headed by a director-general. There are regional organizations in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, south-east Asia, Europe, the west Pacific, and the Americas (The Columbia Encyclopedia 2009). “The main components of the WHO’s organizational structure have remained unchanged since its formal establishment in 1948” (Lee 2008: 25). The organization’s highest decision making unit is the World Health Assembly or WHA. The WHA has various responsibilities and roles including the appointment of the Director-General for a five-year term, the determination of overall policy relating to WHO’s General Program of Work, the review and approval of reports and activities of the Executive Board, and of the annual budget among other factors. The WHO’s organizational structure also includes the Executive Board which ensures that the decisions taken by the World Health Assembly are properly implemented. The Secretariat is the administrative and technical organ of the WHO, responsible for implementing the organization’s activities. It consists of the headquarters in Geneva, six regional offices, and nearly one hundred and fifty country and liaison offices in selected member states. The World Health Organization is based on the concept that diseases are prevalent world-wide, they do not keep within boundaries, and as stated in the preamble to the WHO Constitution, the promotion and protection of health is essential for all. At several levels including the normative, the technical and in policy-making, the WHO has used its authority and implemented programs to achieve its constitutional objectives in various different and sometimes innovative ways. It has become a vital agency in the effort of the international community to control diseases and to promote good physical and mental health (Burci & Vignes 2004). The basic institutional structure and functions of the WHO is the result of its creators to facilitate greater and more concerted international health cooperation by forging a new organization along with pre-existing health bodies and their political constituencies. For this purpose, well-defined leadership and unrivalled technical expertise were called for. This resulted in a three-tiered organization which enabled the WHO to integrate centralized policy leadership with decentralized operational capacity. In practice,however, the “appropriate distribution of staff, financial resources, and perhaps most importantly decision making power across the headquarters regional and country levels has remained an ongoing source of tension” (Lee 2008: 25) The Functioning and Operations of the World Health Organization The World Health Organization operates in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing landscape. WHO meets the challenges of blurring boundaries between public health action and other sectors that influence health opportunities and outcomes, with the help of a six-point agenda. “The six points address two health objectives, two strategic needs, and two operational approaches” (World Health Organization 2011). The effectiveness of WHO’s performance overall will be measured by the outcomes from its work on women’s health and health in Africa. The first point in the WHO’s agenda is promoting development. Health has been the key driver over the past decade, in achieving socio-economic progress, and more resources are being channelized into improving the health of the population. However, poverty continues to contribute to poor health which in turn submerges large sections of the population in poverty. The achieving of health-related Millennium Development Goals and preventing and treating diseases form the basis of the health and development agenda. The other points of the agenda includes fostering health security, through strengthening the world’s ability to defend itself collectively against outbreaks since June 2007 when the revised International Health Regulations were brought into force. Similarly, reinforcing health systems to operate as a poverty-reduction strategy, reaching the poor and underserved populations. This requires provision of sufficient numbers of adequately trained staff, financing, systems for data collection, and access to essential technology and important drugs (World Health Organization 2011). Besides the other above functions, the WHO agenda also includes the harnessing of research, information and evidence. This is crucial since evidence helps to set priorities, define strategies, and measure results. The WHO sets norms and standards in health care, defines evidence-based policy options, and monitors the health conditions and developments globally. Enhancing partnerships with “United Nations agencies and other international organizations, donors, civil society and the private sector” (World Health Organization 2011); and improving performance are also important points in WHO’s agenda. The organization undertakes ongoing reforms to improve its efficiency and effectiveness, both within countries and at the international level. The World Health Organization’s agenda is the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all people. The great challenge of fulfilling this objective has required not only high level technical skills, but has required the organization’s engagement with a broad range of political and economic interests (Lee 2008). According to Burci and Vignes (2004), the WHO implements two categories of functions: the normative and the directing and coordinating functions. The normative functions include the international conventions and agreements, regulations, and recommendations and other non-binding standards. The WHO’s directing and coordinating functions include agendas related to health for all, poverty and health, fight against disease, access to medicines, and research and technical cooperation. On other issues such as essential drugs, tobacco control, diet and nutrition, accessibility to potable water and other factors, the organization is engaged in efforts to resolve the problems. The WHO’s efforts to tackle the broader determinants of health has brought it into contact with issues such as globalization, poverty, social justice and human rights. The WHO’s role in international cooperation calls for its changing structures and implementation of key programs. Of specific significance are the challenges WHO has faced in recent years with the emergence of other global initiatives, and how it has sustained its efforts to remain effective as the ‘world’s health conscience’ within an increasingly complex global context (Lee 2008). The WHO identifies needs and inadequacies in several spheres of public health including those related to poverty, basic human needs and high rates of child mortality in developing countries such as Africa; an global issues regarding family planning, maternal care, child health care, mental health policy and practice, HIV infection, the effects of ultraviolet radiation, cancer prevention through workplace safety, global obesity epidemic, chronic illnesses such as elephantiasis, and several other factors (Burci & Vignes 2004). The WHO’s World Health Report on disability dated 9th June, 2011 encourages governments to increase efforts enabling access to mainstream health services among other things, and to invest in programs to unlock the vast potential of people with disabilities (WHO 2011). Further, universal health coverage is a concept that has been implemented by the WHO. This is based on the need for timely access to health services, and a combination of “promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation” (WHO 2010: 7). Except for a small minority of the population, this cannot be achieved without an optimally functioning health financing system. It determines whether the services exist, and also the use of services. For this purpose, the Member States of the WHO committed in 2005 to develop their health financing systems to enable access to services for all people, without having to suffer financial hardship for paying for them. For attaining the goal of universal health coverage, governments must ensure that coverage is equitable and establish reliable means to monitor and evaluate progress. Additionally, WHO sets standards in various aspects of world health care. For these reasons, the organization has also become a reference point for its Member States and also for the many groups and organizations active in the field of public health. Financing and budgeting form an essential part of WHO’s functions. Despite its significance and achievements, it is likely that the WHO is not as well known outside its specific field of competence as other international agencies, particularly in relation to its structure and its normative and policy work (Burci & Vignes 2004). Impact of the World Health Organization WHO’s extensive number of planned agendas for various issues are for achieving far-reaching and beneficial outcomes for the target populations many of whom are living under the poverty line, lacking basic amenities and with little for their subsistence. Thus, large populations are benefited in all the various areas of the WHO’s agenda from environmental pollution, development and provision of basic amenities, to child and maternal health to care of the aged. The organization utilizes the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to evaluate the potential health results from implementing a policy, program or project. It uses an integration of methods, procedures and tools for the purpose. “Using qualitative, quantitative and participatory techniques, HIA aims to produce recommendations that will help decision-makers and other stakeholders make choices about alternatives and improvements” (HIA 2011) for the prevention of disease or injury, and for the active promotion of health. WHO has achieved several high profile successes such as the global eradication of smallpox and SARS, as well as ongoing campaigns against polio and other diseases such as leprosy, cholera, malaria, and tuberculosis (Lee 2008), while sponsoring medical research on tropical and other diseases (The Columbia Encyclopedia 2009). The WHO has drafted conventions for preventing the international spread of disease such as sanitary and quarantine requirements, and for reducing smoking. Further, it has focused on the problems of environmental pollution. The organization is also authorized to issue global health alerts and implement other measures to prevent the international spread of health threats. The National Environment Health Association (NEHA) working with the WHO is advocated by Fabian (2006), to enable the NEHA’s voice to be heard at World Health Assembly. This would help environmental concerns to be adressed, and impending environmental decline to be countered through appropriate means. “An emerging issue in discussions of WHO’s future is what role international law should have in WHO’s global public health mission” (Fidler 1998: 1079). From the time of its inception, WHO has not not considered international law. It is considered essential that WHO should take international law more seriously than it has historically. This is considered particularly vital in relation to WHO’s approach to emerging infectious diseases, and to support WHO’s mandate of furthering humanity’s health. Similarly, other international legal regimes such as international trade law are also important to WHO’s future. International trade law includes global health concerns and it can be used as a strategy to support WHO’s mandate for improving humanity’s health. Additionally, the global health jurisprudence provides a comprehensive framework into which the Organization can integrate its international legal endeavors. “The concept of global health jurisprudence helps clarify that WHO faces legal challenges not only internationally, but also nationally, and both must be addressed in an integrated and comprehensive manner” (Fidler 1998: 1079). Creating global health jurisprudence will require WHO to develop and utilize public health law capabilities that was earlier not considered necessary. Although an immense challenge, seeking global health jurisprudence constitutes a strategy that is vital for WHO to include in its global policy. Conclusion This paper has highlighted the World Health Organization, made a profile of the organization, examined its functioning and identified its impacts. The multi-dimensional organization partners with various agencies to carry out its work efficiently. The evidence indicates that the crucial work being carried out by the organization needs to be maintained and enhanced to meet the increasing global challenges in health care, emergence of new diseases, growing populations, poverty levels, declining water resources, global warming and its adverse outcomes, woman and child health, and several other issues that persist, due to the rising population levels. Population control, conservation of natural resources, and taking measures to prevent further global warming are crucial, along with further research in agriculture, food and nutrition and health needs to enhance the quality of life of people under the poverty line. Bibliography Burci, G.L. & Vignes, C-H. (2004). World Health Organization. The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Fabian, N. (2006). NEHA and the World Health Organization. Journal of Environmental Health, 69 (4): pp.70-74. Fidler, D.P. The future of the World Health Organization: What role for international law? Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 31 (5): pp.1079-1107. HIA (2011). Health impact assessment. World Health Organization. Retrieved on 12th June, 2011 from: http://www.who.int/topics/health_impact_assessment/en/ Lee, K. (2008). The World Health Organization (WHO). Global Institutions Series. New York: Taylor & Francis. WHO. (2011). World Health Organization. Retrieved on 12th June, 2011 from: http://www.who.int/en/ WHO. (2010). Health systems financing: A path to universal coverage. Executive Summary: The World Health Report. World Health Organization. Retrieved on 12th June, 2011 from: http://www.who.int/whr/2010/10_summary_en.pdf World Health Organization. (2011). The WHO agenda. World Health Organization. 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