World Health Organization and Its Purposes

Subject: Public Health
Pages: 2
Words: 573
Reading time:
3 min
Study level: College

Introduction

World Health Organization (WHO) is an international organization whose core function is to protect the health of the people at a global level. The company was found on April 7th, 1948 by countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Brazil (World Health Organization, 2021b). WHO’s headquarters are in Geneva Switzerland and is run under the leadership of Tedros Adhanom as the director-general. The institution intends to make the world a better place by improving individual health statuses. Thus, WHO is a health-promoting institution the purpose of which is to govern global health.

WHO Purposes

The main purpose of WHO is to provide governance of health and diseases in the world. The organization operates the world as a single community, with its objective to help people attain the highest level of health. As defined by WHO, health is a state of complete mental, social and physical well-being of individuals (Reddy et al., 2021). WHO also believes that health is more than the absence or presence of diseases. Consequently, it serves many functions to fulfill its purpose.

WHO acts as director and coordinating authority on global health work. It directs and coordinates the health processes for international health organizations. These health institutions function under directives from their main authority, WHO. Governments from all over the world also request the international health organization for help or directives (Reddy et al., 2021). The institution provides aid, emergencies, and technical assistance upon request. WHO also guides on specific health matters like sanitation, housing, nutrition, and environmental hygiene, amongst others.

The global health organization facilitates, coordinates, and promotes biomedical studies and research. WHO is highly invested in conducting research to treat and prevent existing and potential diseases. Furthermore, the company researches diseases without treatments like those caused by viruses (Reddy et al., 2021). The institution further offers knowledge in improving health training standards to medical and related personnel. The organization standardizes and updates medical training standards from time to time to help offer the best professional services.

WHO acts as a platform to establish and stimulate global standards for pharmaceutical and biological practices. Pharmacies and laboratories get practice guidelines from the health institution to conduct diagnosis procedures. According to World Health Organization (2021b), the company is also mandated to foster mental health whereby it streamlines activities that affect the functioning of humans. The international organization is funded by all stakeholding governments and as of today, the budget for 2020 to 2021 is $8.482 billion (World Health Organization, 2021a). The money funds all the functions mentioned above and many others that may deem vital for human health promotion.

WHO suggests conventions, regulations and agreements regarding international causes of deaths, public health practices, and nomenclature of diseases. Moreover, it promotes global standards for biological, food, and pharmaceutical practices. Healthcare institutions also borrow health processes knowledge from WHO thus promoting service delivery. The organization is empowered by the authority to lead and ensure the effectiveness of health guidelines for healthcare institutions from all over the world.

Conclusion

WHO plays a significant role in promoting, directing, and coordinating health standards, delivery, and provision. The institution seeks to ensure the best level of health for all international people. Furthermore, researching the prevention and treatment of diseases helps WHO in meeting its primary purpose. Lastly, WHO supports all other health organizations under its umbrella to function towards promoting human health. So far, the organization has been working in alignment with its purpose.

References

World Health Organization. (2021). Budget. Web.

Reddy, S. K., Mazhar, S., & Lencucha, R. (2018). The financial sustainability of the World Health Organization and the political economy of global health governance: A review of funding proposals. Globalization and Health, 14(1), 1-11. Web.

World Health Organization. (2021). What we do. Web.