Profiles

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a supranational organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations focused on international public health.

History

The Government of Canada joined the World Health Organization on August 29, 1946.^[1]

On April 25, 2009, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) over the H1N1 strain of influenza.^[2]

On June 11, 2009, declared that the H1N1 virus was to be considered an influenza pandemic.^[3]

In December 2010, the WHO launched the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration alongside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and UNICEF.^[4]

On May 5, 2014, Director-General Margaret Chan declared the international spread of polio a public health emergency of international concern.^[5]

On August 8, 2014, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern.^[6]

On September 19, 2019, the WHO published a pandemic preparedness document titled “Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza.”^[7]

COVID-19

In early 2020, the WHO contacted the United Nations Foundation to “help build momentum and support for its role in leading and coordinating global efforts to prevent, detect, and respond.”^[8] Just over two weeks later in March 2020, the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund was launched in partnership with the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation to support the WHO's response efforts to the declared COVID-19 pandemic.^[9]

The World Health Organization launched the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) at the end of April 2020.^[10]

On December 2, 2020, the WHO put out a call for applications for a new Smart Vaccination Certificate Working Group to "inform the definition of specifications and standards related to interoperability, governance, and design for a personal digital vaccination certificate" in anticipation of the then-upcoming COVID-19 vaccines.^[11]

On June 10, 2021, the WHO convened the 2nd Global Consultation on SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern and their Impact on Public Health Interventions.^[12]

In December 2021, the World Health Assembly established the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to create and negotiate a pandemic treaty under the auspices of the Constitution of the World Health Organization.^[13] In January 2022, the WHO Executive Board passed Decision 150(3), beginning the process of amending the current International Health Regulations.^[14]^[15] This was followed in May 2022 by World Health Assembly decision WHA75(9), officially forming the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005).^[14:1]^[16]

In 2022, the WHO Regional Office for Europe published a document titled “Vaccine crisis communication manual: step-by-step guidance for national immunization programmes.”^[17]

From March 13-15, 2023, the WHO co-hosted a Global Convening on COVID-19 Vaccination Monitoring and Related System Strengthening with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF on the subject of COVID-19 vaccines.^[18]

On June 24, 2022, the WHO renewed the status of polio as a public health emergency of international concern.^[19]

Organization

The World Health Organization is organized under the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Subsidiaries

Smart Vaccination Certificate Working Group

Personnel

Name	Position	Notes
Timothy Evans	Assistant Director General (2003-2010)^[20]	Event 201, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, A Spreading Plague, World Bank Group, McGill School of Population and Global Health

Funding

The WHO is funded by the national governments of member states and external donors including non-governmental organizations, corporations, individuals and philanthropic organizations.^[21] Voluntary contributions are the primary source of funding for the WHO, along with an annual “assessed contribution” calculated based on the GDP of each member state.

Organizations that have funded the WHO in the last several years include:^[21:1]^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]

Adimmune
Africa Re Foundation
African Development Bank Group
African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET)
African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)
Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED)
Al Jazeera Media Network
Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR)
Alwaleed Philanthropies
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
American Psychological Association (APA)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research
ANESVAD Foundation
AO Foundation
Apple
Applied Information Sciences
Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND)
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Asian Liver Center at Stanford University
Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH)
Austism Speaks
Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO)
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood
Australian Respiratory Council
Bank of Africa Foundation
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Baxter
Bayer
BBC Global News
Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)
Beijing Tiantan Biological Products (TIANTANBIO)
Bernard van Leer Foundation
Big Heart Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Borrow Foundation
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Bridges to Development
Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI)
Brighton Collaboration
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Carter Center
Catholic Relief Services
CDC Foundation
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
Central European Initiative (CEI)
Centre for Ageing Better
Chemo Ibérica
Chiba University
Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
China Medical Board (CMB)
China Population Welfare Foundation (CPWF)
Christian Blind Mission (CBM)
Christian Medical College Vellore (CMC)
Cipla Health
Clarke Mosquito
Clean Air Fund
Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)
Conba Group Co.
Covanta
COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund
Crown Agents
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Deb Worldwide Healthcare
Delft University of Technology
Denka Seiken
DiaSorin
Diversey
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi)
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Eisai
Eleanor Crook Foundation
Eli Lilly
Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF)
Elrha
Emergency Architecture & Human Rights (EAHR)
Emirates Red Crescent
The END Fund
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)
European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)
European Commission
European Health Management Association (EHMA)
European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA)
European Investment Bank
European Respiratory Society (ERS)
European Society for Medical Oncology
Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN)
Facebook
Famine Relief Fund
FHI 360
FIA Foundation
FIFA
Fluart Innovative Vaccines
Fondation Botnar
Fondation d'Harcourt
Fondation des Immeubles pour les Organisations Internationales (FIPOI)
Fondation Mérieux
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Ford Foundation
Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)
Fred Hollows Foundation
French National Cancer Institute (INCa)
Gates Ventures
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Gedeon Richter
Gharda Chemicals
Gilead Sciences
GitHub
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP)
Global Disability Innovation Hub
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Global Health Workforce Alliance
Gojo Industries
Google
Government of Catalonia
Government of Flanders
Government of Hong Kong
Government of Macau
Grand Challenges Canada
Green Cross Corporation (GSC)
Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health
HackerOne
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
HD Hudson
Health Foundation
Health Service Executive (HSE)
Hearing Conservation Council (HCC)
Hepatitis Fund
Hilfsaktion Noma
Hualan Biological Bacterin
Imperial College London (ICL)
Innovation Norway
Instabug
Institut de France
Interbrand
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)
International AIDS Society (IAS)
International Company for Medical Necessities
International Development Association
International Development Law Organization
International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE)
International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations
International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA)
International Foundation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (IFOS)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International League Against Epilepsy
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
International Society of Audiology
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD)
International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
International Water Association (IWA)
INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI)
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
Israeli Fund for UNICEF (IFU)
Italian National Institute of Health
Japan Hospital Association (JHA)
Japanese Association of Psychiatric Hospitals
Jhpiego
JMI Syringes & Medical Devices
Johann Jacobs Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Johnson & Johnson
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Kaketsuken
Kanazawa University
Kantar
Karolinska Institute
King Baudouin Foundation United States (KBFUS)
King's College London
Kitasato Daiichi Sankyo Vaccine
KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation
Korean Foundation for International Healthcare
La Trobe University
Laerdal Foundation
Latter-day Saint Charities
Light for the World
Lillian Lincoln Foundation
Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF)
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Mada - Assistive Technology Center Qatar
Madrilenian Health Service (SERMAS)
Mahidol University
March of Dimes
McKinsey & Company
Mectizan Donation Program (MDP)
Medicines Development for Global Health
MedImmune
Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC)
Merck
Microsoft
Monash University
Mundo Sano
National Hospital Organization Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center
National Institute of Pulmonology Marius Nasta
National Philanthropic Trust
National University of Singapore (NUS)
New Sunshine Charity Foundation
New Venture Fund
Nippon Foundation
Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH)
Novartis
Nutrition International
Oil Search Foundation
OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)
Open Society Foundations
Open Society Institute
Options Consultancy Services
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)
Organisation for the Prevention of Blindness
P&P Patents and Technologies
Pacific Islands Health Officers Association (PIHOA)
Palestinian National Authority
PandemicTech
Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH)
PAS Center
Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
Philippine Business for Social Progress
Population Action International (PAI)
Population Services International (PSI)
Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (IPDJ)
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
President and Fellows of Harvard College
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development
Qiagen
Quadram Institute
RAND Corporation
Reckitt Benckiser
Regions for Health Network
Rehabilitation International
Research in Advanced Medical Informatics and Telematics (RAMIT)
Research Institute for Microbial Diseases (RIMD)
Research4Life
Restream
Robert Koch Institute
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Roche
Rockefeller Foundation
Romanian Angel Appeal
Rotary International
Royal Tropical Institute (KIT)
Sabin Vaccine Institute (SVI)
Safaricom Foundation
Sandoz
Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi Espoir Foundation
Sanofi Pasteur
Sasakawa Health Foundation
Save the Children
SC Johnson
Sclavo Vaccines Association
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)
Seqirus
Shanghai Institute of Biological Products
Sightsavers
Sinovac Biotech
SK Bioscience
Snyk
South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)
Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat
Sprinklr
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Petersburg Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera (SPbSRIVS)
Standard Chartered Bank
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
Swiss Philanthropy Foundation
Tableau Software
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Task Force for Global Health
Tetra Pak
Thai Health Promotion Foundation
TikTok
True Colours Trust (TCT)
Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Twitter
UCB
UN Women
UNICEF
UNICEF USA
Union Nationale des Caisses d'Assurance Maladie (UNCAM)
Unitaid
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Federal Credit Union Foundation
United Nations Foundation (UNF)
United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC)
United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD)
United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA)
United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS)
United Nations University Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH)
United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
University College London (UCL)
University of Antwerp
University of Bergen
University of Birmingham
University of Calgary
University of Cape Town
University of Copenhagen
University of Edinburgh
University of Exeter
University of Galway
University of Lucerne
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
University of Newcastle
University of Oxford
University of York
University Research Co. (URC)
Uppsala Monitoring Centre
Uppsala University
USA for UNFPA
Velux Stiftung
Veolia Environment Foundation
Vital Strategies
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
War Child Holland
WaterAid America
Wellcome Trust
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
West African Health Organization (WAHO)
WHO Foundation
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
World Bank
World Diabetes Foundation
World Food Programme (WFP)
World Hepatitis Alliance
World Meterological Organization (WMO)
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
World Vision International
ZeShan Foundation
Zhongshan Opthalmic Center
Zoom Video Communications

Publications

External links

ARCHIVED - World Health Organization. (2005, April 8). Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2020.09.05-102827/https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/international-activities/international-partners-organizations/world-health-organization.html ↩︎
Wilder-Smith, A., & Osman, S. (2020). Public health emergencies of international concern: a historic overview. Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(8). https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa227 ↩︎
WHO declares H1N1 a pandemic. (2009, June 12). China Daily. https://web.archive.org/web/20200722054033/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009-06/12/content_8289587_5.htm ↩︎
Robert, M., Hasan, H., Moen, C., & Billet, C. (2010, December 2). Global Health Leaders Launch Decade of Vaccines Collaboration. World Health Organization. http://archive.today/2013.10.30-095609/http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/press/news_release_decade_vaccines/en/index.html ↩︎
Public Health Emergency status. Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220729220527/https://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/public-health-emergency-status/ ↩︎
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP), Viral Special Pathogens Branch (VSPB). (2019, March 8). 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://archive.today/2020.10.06-162536/https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/history/2014-2016-outbreak/index.html ↩︎
WHO Global Influenza Programme. (2019). Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza. World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20220831234545if_/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329438/9789241516839-eng.pdf ↩︎
The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. United Nations Foundation. Retrieved July 4, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230704190217/https://unfoundation.org/covid-19-solidarity-response-fund/ ↩︎
Bridges, R. (2020, March 13). WHO, UN Foundation and partners launch first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. World Health Organization. http://archive.today/2021.01.18-024953/https://www.who.int/news/item/13-03-2020-who-un-foundation-and-partners-launch-first-of-its-kind-covid-19-solidarity-response-fund ↩︎
What is the ACT-Accelerator. World Health Organization. Retrieved February 12, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.02.12-175054/https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/about ↩︎
World Health Organization open call for nomination of experts to contribute to the Smart Vaccination Certificate technical specifications and standards – Application DEADLINE 14 December 2020. (2020, December 2). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20210126233223/https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/world-health-organization-open-call-for-nomination-of-experts-to-contribute-to-the-smart-vaccination-certificate-technical-specifications-and-standards-application-deadline-14-december-2020 ↩︎
2nd Global Consultation on SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern and the Impact on Public Health Interventions. (2021). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20230312032446/https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/report-sars-global-consultation_10june2021.pdf ↩︎
Home. Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB). Retrieved February 12, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.02.12-191643/https://inb.who.int/ ↩︎
Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005). World Health Organization. Retrieved March 5, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.03.05-132401/https://www.who.int/teams/ihr/working-group-on-amendments-to-the-international-health-regulations-(2005) ↩︎ ↩︎
Executive Board - 150th Session - Resolutions and Decisions, Annexes - EB150/2022/REC/1 (p. 30). (2022). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20240509161756/https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB150-REC1/B150_REC1-en.pdf#page=30 ↩︎
Strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies. (2022, May 27). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20240509161756/https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA75/A75(9)-en.pdf ↩︎
Dolezal, K.-S. (2022). Vaccine crisis communication manual: step-by-step guidance for national immunization programmes. World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20230116172546/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/352029/WHO-EURO-2022-3471-43230-60590-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ↩︎
Global Convening on COVID-19 Vaccination Monitoring and Related System Strengthening. (2023). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20231107180710/https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/final_data-global-con-report_2.5.pdf?sfvrsn=80275550_1 ↩︎
Poliovirus IHR Emergency Committee. (2022, June 24). Statement of the Thirty-second Polio IHR Emergency Committee. World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20220729220956/https://www.who.int/news/item/24-06-2022-statement-of-the-thirty-second-polio-ihr-emergency-committee ↩︎
Tim Evans. World Bank Blogs. Retrieved May 12, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.05.12-164342/https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/team/t/tim-evans ↩︎
Our contributors. World Health Organization. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.07.21-211136/https://www.who.int/about/funding/contributors ↩︎ ↩︎
Voluntary contributions by fund and by contributor, 2021. (2022). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20220516042059/https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA75/A75_INF5-en.pdf ↩︎
Voluntary contributions by fund and by contributor, 2020. (2021). World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/359079/A74_INF4-en.pdf ↩︎
Voluntary contributions by fund and by contributor, 2019. (2020, June 9). World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/339657/A73_INF3-eng.pdf ↩︎
Voluntary contributions by fund and by contributor, 2018. (2019, May 9). World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20220613194959/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329246/A72_INF5-en.pdf ↩︎
Voluntary contributions by fund and by contributor, 2017. (2018, April 19). Wayback Machine; World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20200605174758/https://www.who.int/about/finances-accountability/funding/A71_INF2-en.pdf ↩︎

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