World Health Organization: Difference between revisions

During the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization, Dr. [[Szeming Sze]], a delegate from China, conferred with Norwegian and Brazilian delegates on creating an international health organization under the auspices of the new United Nations. After failing to get a resolution passed on the subject, [[Alger Hiss]], the Secretary General of the conference, recommended using a declaration to establish such an organization. Dr. Sze and other delegates lobbied and a declaration passed calling for an international conference on health.<ref name="Pitt ULS">[http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=ascead;cc=ascead;q1=Szeming%20Sze;rgn=main;view=text;didno=US-PPiU-ua90f141 Sze Szeming Papers, 1945–2014, UA.90.F14.1], University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh.</ref> The use of the word "world", rather than "international", emphasized the truly global nature of what the organization was seeking to achieve.<ref name="bmj1948">{{cite journal |title=World Health Organization |journal=The British Medical Journal |volume=2 |number=4570 |date=7 August 1948|pages=302–303 |publisher=BMJ Publishing Group |jstor=25364565 |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4570.302}}</ref> The constitution of the World Health Organization was signed by all 51 countries of the United Nations, and by 10 other countries, on 22 July 1946.<ref>http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hist/chronicles/chronicle_1947.pdf "Chronicle of the World Health Organization", Vol. I, p. 6-11</ref> It thus became the first specialised agency of the United Nations to which every member subscribed.<ref name="shimkin">{{cite journal|title=The World Health Organization |first=Michael B. |last=Shimkin|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=104 |number=2700 |date=27 September 1946 |pages=281–283 |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |jstor=1674843 |doi=10.1126/science.104.2700.281}}</ref> Its constitution formally came into force on the first [[World Health Day]] on 7 April 1948, when it was ratified by the 26th member state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hist/chronicles/chronicle_1947.pdf|format=PDF|title=Chronicle of the World Health Organization, 1947|accessdate=18 July 2007}}</ref> The first meeting of the [[World Health Assembly]] finished on 24 July 1948, having secured a budget of US$5&nbsp;million (then GBP£1,250,000) for the 1949 year. [[Andrija Stampar]] was the Assembly's first president, and [[G. Brock Chisholm]] was appointed Director-General of WHO, having served as Executive Secretary during the planning stages.<ref name="bmj1948"/> Its first priorities were to control the spread of [[malaria]], [[tuberculosis]] and [[sexually transmitted infection]]s, and to improve [[maternal health|maternal]] and [[child health]], nutrition and environmental hygiene. Its first legislative act was concerning the compilation of accurate statistics on the spread and morbidity of disease.<ref name="bmj1948"/> The logo of the World Health Organization features the [[Rod of Asclepius]] as a symbol for healing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.who.org.ph/ |title=World Health Organization Philippines |publisher=WHO |accessdate=27 March 2012}}</ref>