World Health Organisation (WHO)
The World Health Organisation, or WHO, is part of the United Nations. It aims to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable
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The WHO has 194 member states, and is involved in things like vaccination campaigns, helping people deal with health emergencies and supporting countries in their healthcare. It gets its money from its member countries, as well as donations.
The WHO has five values that the organisation and its workers are guided by:
- Trusted to serve public health at all times
- Professionals committed to excellence in health
- Persons of integrity
- Collaborative colleagues and partners
- People caring about people
The has more information on these values and the work the organisaiton does.
In developing countries, one way the WHO works to improve people's health by training people to become nurses and health care workers in their own country. WHO also works to eliminate diseases.
As well as working in individual countries, the WHO leads many global health campaigns. For example, in 1974, the WHO started the Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI). This aims to vaccinate children throughout the world against the following six diseases:
- diphtheria
- pertussis (whooping cough)
- tetanus (DPT)
- polio
- measles
- tuberculosis