Who’s the WHO, the WHA, and the UN?
The WHO is the World Health Organisation, an agency of the United Nations (UN) responsible for international public health.
The UN, is an intergovernmental organisation whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonising the actions of nations. It is the world’s largest international organisation. The UN is made up of 194 Member States and its work are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter.
The UN says: “it remains the one place on Earth where all the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems, and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity.”
The WHO is governed by the World Health Assembly (WHA), which is the decision-making body of the WHO. Meetings of the WHA are held annually in May. The WHA is attended by delegations from all 194 Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board (made up of 34 health specialists). The main functions of the WHA are to determine the policies of the WHO, appoint the Director-General of the WHO, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.
The WHO says it is: “Dedicated to the well-being of all people and guided by science, the World Health Organization leads and champions global efforts to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance to live a healthy life.”
We understand that the WHO is a longstanding organisation that has in the past been responsible for many good deeds for health, world-over. However, there are some things that the WHO is less well known for: things which might not cast the organisation in the best light.
Furthermore, now, with large portions of the WHO’s funding coming from private organisations/donors and countries with ‘ideals different from established concepts of democracy’ (i.e. China, North Korea, Russia), there are strong commercial and political interests which influence the decisions made under the proposed treaties and amendments.
Australia has been a member of the WHO since 1946. Australia was one of the founding countries “and participated in the International Health Conference in 1946, which resulted in the drafting of the WHO constitution, turning over the functions of the Office International d’Hygiene Publique (OIHP) to WHO and setting up of an Interim Commission to prepare for the First World Health Assembly.”
Australia is bound without reservation to the International Health Regulations of 2005 (2005 IHRs), when it first signed up to the IHRs. Australia’s National Interest Test Report outlining why it decided to join the 2005 IHRs can be found here.
