60th Anniversary of the World Health Organization - 6 ทศวรรษองค์การอนามัยโลก

Abstract

           This year marks the 60th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health issues. Over the last 60 years, WHO has helped to significantly improve global health through many successful programmes-smallpox eradication, family planning, primary health care, polio eradication and the control of many important diseases of public health. WHO has 193 member states; nearly 8,000 staffers of more than 150 nationalities work for the organization. The total of budget of the organization was $US 3.3 billion in 2006-2007. Dr. Margaret Chan from the Republic of China is the current elected director-general of WHO. Her main agenda focuses on the health of women and the people of Africa. In addition, she is emphasizing the renewal of primary health care as an approach to strengthen health systems. WHO faces many challenges because of current global epidemiological, socio-economic and environmental transitions. WHO is also no longer the only international organization focusing on health. There are many new global health initiatives and organizations such as the Global Fund, the World Bank, etc. that play an increasingly important role in health development. The majority of funding of WHO depends on voluntary donations from Member States or organizations to support various donoridentified priority programs. The electoral process of WHO regional directors has also a fundamental impact on the unity of WHO administration. Finally, its bureaucratic administration is not always effective in fully responding to the demands of its Member States. These efficiency challenges are important issues for WHO to deal with.

Key words: World Health Organization-WHO, 60th anniversary, history, agenda, challenges