http://www.who.int/

The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. It was established on 7 April 1948.

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 WHO's Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

WHO is governed by 193 Member States through the World Health Assembly (which usually meets in May).

Their headquarters are found in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, there are 6 regional offices (Europe in Copenhagen, Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo, Africa in Brazzaville, Southeast Asia in New Delhi, the Americas in D.C., and Western Pacific in Manila)

The website is a great place for statistics (population, income, mortality, birth, vaccines, incidence of disease, number of physicians per capita, etc.) as well as guidelines for many medical issues, travel information, and recent news and updates on many public health issues. The staff of WHO are involved in surveillance, research, policy and medical care.

As former Director Dr. Lee Jong-wook states in the WHO brochure: “No single country can solve the growing list of health challenges the world faces today. Infectious diseases such as SARS can circle the globe within weeks, moving at the speed of air travel. Health crises in distant countries become everyone’s concern as they contribute to poverty and conflict. At the same time, globalization is contributing to the huge gaps between people who have access to health care, and those who don’t.

All countries must work together if we are to find solutions to these challenges. This is where WHO comes in. Among the many urgent needs we face, four priorities stand out: One is to help ensure global health security, by detecting emerging threats to health and managing them quickly. We do this by building a global network which helps to find a disease outbreak wherever it strikes, and rallying top experts to stop it fast. This is crucial in times of peace, and when people’s lives are thrown into the turmoil of conflict or natural disaster.

Another is to reduce tobacco use and promote health diets and physical activity to speed up progress in the battle against chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

A third priority is to build up efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals through programmes to support countries in the fight against HIV/ADIS, tuberculosis and malaria; to improve the health and nutrition of children and women; and to increase people’s access to essential medicines.

Finally, we need to strive for improvements in health care and fairer access in a world where life expectancy ranges from 85 years in Japan to just 36 years in Sierra Leone. Wherever they live, people need health services.

WHO’s constitution states that the “enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being”.