Member Profile

World Health Organisation

The World Health Organization, the United Nations specialized agency for health, was established on 7 April 1948. the WHO's objective, as set out in its Constitution, is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in the WHO's Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

The WHO is governed by 192 Member States through the World Health Assembly. The Health Assembly is composed of representatives from the WHO's Member States. The main tasks of the World Health Assembly are to approve the WHO programme and the budget for the following biennium and to decide major policy questions.

The Secretariat is headed by the Director-General, the WHO is nominated by the Executive Board and elected by Member States for a period of five years. Dr LEE Jong-wook took office as Director-General of the World Health Organization on 21 July 2003.

The WHO's Secretariat is staffed by health professionals, other experts and support staff working at headquarters in Geneva, in the six regional offices and in countries. The WHO's regional offices are:

• Regional Office for Africa - located in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
• Regional Office for Europe - located in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Regional Office for South-East Asia - located in New Delhi, India
• Regional Office for the Americas/Pan-American Health Organization -located in Washington D.C., USA
• Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean - located in Cairo, Egypt
• Regional Office for the Western Pacific - located in Manila, Philippines

In carrying out its activities, the WHO's secretariat focuses its work on the following six core functions:

• Articulating consistent, ethical and evidence-based policy and advocacy positions
• Managing information by assessing trends and comparing performance; setting the agenda for, and stimulating research and development
• Catalysing change through technical and policy support, in ways that stimulate cooperation and action and help to build sustainable national and inter-country capacity
• Negotiating and sustaining national and global partnerships
• Setting, validating, monitoring and pursuing the proper implementation of norms and standards
• Stimulating the development and testing of new technologies, tools and guidelines for disease control, risk reduction, health care management, and service delivery