As it turns 75, the need for WHO remains as vital as ever
Countries turned the history page on the deadliest conflict and came together in 1948 to heal a bloody world. After years of war, distrust and pain, nations have taken people’s physical and mental well-being to a new level, forging a global pact and purpose to protect and promote health for all.
High sentiment turned into practical reality 75 years ago with the enactment of the Constitution of the World Health Organization and the establishment of WHO as the specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to advancing human health. The WHO was given a unique mandate to promote the well-being of all people, and a unique ability to bring all governments and partners together at the same table.
Fast forward to today as the WHO celebrates 75th anniversary year as of World Health Day on April 7, this mandate and convocation opportunity remain as important as ever. At the same time, the world needs a renewal of this commitment to putting the health of all people first, from our grandparents to our children born today and in the future.
COVID-19, conflict, climate change and commercial causes of ill health such as unhealthy food and tobacco really remind us how precarious our lives are and how, without a constant commitment to advancing our collective well-being, fate of vulnerable communities around the world will remain at risk.
A landmark rule in the WHO Constitution states that “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction as to race, religion, political opinion, economic or social condition”.
This has led to WHO’s work to promote, provide and protect health for all. There have been many successes along the way.
One of the most famous is the eradication of the ancient plague of smallpox. Today, the world is on the verge of eradicating polio too, with cases dropping by 99.9 percent annually since the 1980s. Other successes include eliminating or nearly eliminating five tropical diseases, making childhood immunization nearly universal, and setting global standards for safe drinking water.
In addition, WHO has supported countries in adopting a landmark tobacco control treaty, regulating aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes and reporting on health emergencies that could potentially spread globally. The WHO played a catalytic role in advancing the development and rollout of the first-ever Ebola and Malaria vaccines, which are now saving lives across Africa. WHO’s work in humanitarian settings has provided life-saving care to millions of people.
The list goes on. As the WHO celebrates its 75th anniversary, there is much that the organization and the countries that founded it can be proud of.
But major challenges remain.
COVID has shown how we, as a global community, are only as safe from pandemic threats as the least prepared nation. Too many people do not have access to quality, affordable health services, but instead suffer from preventable or treatable ill health.
Modern concerns exacerbate this, such as the effects of the climate crisis putting millions of people at risk through floods and droughts, rampant air pollution, and the willful misinformation and disinformation complicating people’s health choices.
There are also threats to people’s well-being that are driven by factors beyond health, including conflict, economic and commercial.
To meet these challenges, WHO is changing and adapting to perform better today and for the next 75 years.
Our work focuses on five areas: improving the health level of all people; ensuring that everyone has fair access to quality, affordable health services; protecting the world from new and known pathogens; empowering science and scientific information to support good health; and strengthening WHO to meet the demands of today and tomorrow.
In the wake of COVID, we are supporting countries negotiating a historic pandemic agreement, rooted in the WHO Constitution, to jointly prevent and respond to future pandemic threats. So are nations modify the international health regulations to make them relevant to a post-COVID world, and strengthen those of the WHO financialgovernance and operational basis for a safer and healthier world.
The reasons for such measures are clear.
COVID slowed progress in achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and caused incalculable human, social and economic losses. So we need to recapture lost gains by redoubling our efforts to enable universal health coverage for all, driven by primary health care, and by strengthening national and global systems, from state-of-the-art surveillance to investments in public health preparedness. country, to a more safe world.
The lifeblood of WHO’s work is science and evidence. Data-driven guidance remains core work, helping WHO and countries invest resources where health needs are greatest.
Access to evidence-based advice also helps people make good health choices. This is critical today because, as COVID has shown, misinformation and disinformation have made decision making even more difficult and, in extreme cases, deadly.
WHO has transformed its operations to effectively carry out work on all these fronts and more, with a clear focus on delivering impact at the community level.
Today, 75 years later, and after a new virus has shown how fragile the world still is, the need for WHO is as important as ever. If the organization had not been created all those years ago, we would have to create it today. So on the anniversary of WHO, I thank all countries and partners for their commitment to laying the foundations of WHO in 1948 and continuing to strengthen them for a healthier, safer and fairer future for all.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial view of Al Jazeera.