Responsibilities of the World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) was established by the United Nations in 1948 as agency to support and coordinate international efforts to control contagious diseases and improve overall public health administration. The WHO’s responsibilities span three disciplines; distributing health related information, controlling the spread of disease and providing consultation and educational support and services.
The WHO provides member nations with the most current information related to cancer research, nutritional guidelines, drug addiction control, radiation hazards and other health topics. The organization develops and publishes public health guidelines in a number of areas including: Child Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, Maternal and Reproductive Health, Patient Safety and Tuberculosis. In addition, through the Health Metrics Network, the WHO also tracks and monitors trends and statistics related to a variety of public health issues. This data collection and analysis offers early predictions of areas of potential public health hazards. The WHO takes a leadership role in guiding research agenda based on global needs and health trends
The World Health Organization helps stem the spread of infectious diseases by sponsoring large scale vaccination programs, improving the purity of water supplies, and developing new laboratories and protocols for early detection and diagnosis of disease. The organization works with member nations and other independent programs such as The Rollback Malaria Project to develop and implement these broad based prevention and treatment strategies in a globally standard manner. The WHO also provides educational assistance in using pesticides to control insect borne diseases and the use of antibiotics to cure sicknesses such as malaria. Response teams from the WHO network of partners as well as the agency itself respond to disease outbreaks and natural disasters to contain the spread of illness and conditions that jeopardize health.
Finally, the WHO provides consultation and education to member nations. The organization provides advice and support to governments as they develop and implement long term public health strategies and plans. They provide support in establishing training centers for nurses and other medical personnel to increase the number of these professionals in developing countries. Traveling-fellowship awards are granted by the WHO to medical professionals and public health administrators to bring medical care to under served areas.
The role of the World Health Organization is not to usurp the responsibilities of governments to their citizens for their health and well being. Instead, it provides global standardization, education and support to public health programs resulting in improved health for all.
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