World Health Organization (WHO)

Purpose

Direct and coordinate international health within the United Nations system, setting health standards and responding to global health emergencies.

Members:

194 member states

Headquarters:

Geneva, Switzerland

History

WHO was established on 7 April 1948 (now marked annually as World Health Day) as the UN's specialized agency for international public health.

Structure

• World Health Assembly (main decision-making body)
• Executive Board
• Secretariat, headed by the Director-General

Key facts

• Led the global eradication of smallpox, declared achieved in 1980, the only human disease ever eradicated through deliberate effort
• Declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020
• Current Director-General: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Ethiopia), since 2017, the first African to hold the post
• The United States announced withdrawal from WHO in 2025

Pakistan's relationship

Member since 1948; WHO has supported Pakistan's polio eradication campaign, one of the last countries in the world where the disease remains endemic.