WHO’S
The World Health Organization –
F
acing the destructive aftermath of World War II, nations around the globe convened to form the United Nation in 1945. At one of its first conferences, representatives from Brazil and China proposed the concept of a global health organization, which would facilitate collaboration between countries to fight the spread of diseases. Three years of additional conferences, commissions, and proposals later, the constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) came into effect on April 7th 1948. Armed with an initial budget of 5 million USD and 55 member states, WHO embarked on campaigns to prevent infectious diseases while promoting sanitation, nutrition, and maternal and child health. Fast forward 75 years, WHO has 194 participating member states and an approved budget of 6.8 billion USD for the upcoming year 2024-2025. Since its inception, WHO has been instrumental in implementing vaccination programs, eradicating smallpox, and reducing global deaths from infectious diseases such as malaria, measles, and tuberculosis. One of the most successful operations by WHO has been the near-eradication of polio. Poliomyelitis (polio) is caused by poliovirus, which infects the nervous system and causes a wide range of symptoms including fever, stiffness in the neck, pain in the limbs, and permanent paralysis. During the 20th century, repeated polio epidemics in developed countries left thousands dead and paralyzed. For example, there were more than 21,000 paralytic cases in the United States during the year 1952 alone.
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Fortunately, the invention of polio vaccines by American scientists, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, allowed the number of cases to drop significantly. In fact, dissemination of vaccines across the country eliminated polio entirely from the United States by 1979. However, polio remained a persistent problem in developing countries. Recognizing the need for vaccines in resource-limited regions, WHO launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. In collaboration with other humanitarian organizations such as Rotary International, WHO helped to escalate vaccine production and immunization programs in affected countries. Their concerted efforts eradicated wild poliovirus from the Americas, Western Pacific, and Africa by 1994, 2000 and 2020, respectively. Altogether, wild poliovirus cases have decreased by 99% since 1988. As of 2023, there have been 11 reported cases of wild poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan – and WHO continues its endeavors to achieve complete eradication of polio worldwide.
“WHO
stands as a leader of global health as the international community looks up to the organization for its reports, decisions, and guidance.
Despite its successes, the 75-year-old global health agency has not been exempt from criticisms, accusations, and controversies. For example, WHO was heavily criticized for its
