World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health that was established on 7 April 1948. Its objective, as set out in its Constitution, is "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health." Health is defined in WHO's Constitution as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

WHO is currently governed by 191 Member States whose representatives meet annually at the World Health Assembly, to discuss matters of public health importance and to direct the work of WHO. The main tasks of the Assembly are to approve the WHO programme and the budget for the following biennium and to take decisions on major policy questions.

In 1997, the World Health Assembly, having considered the problem of lymphatic filariasis, resolved to eliminate the disease as a public health problem. That decision is embodied in resolution WHA50.29. This signalled the start of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis.

It was clear from the outset that the scale of this programme would require a dynamic and flexible structure to ensure that the resources and the activities were well managed. Hence WHO, with support from organizations including international development agencies and foundations, the private sector, NGDOs, academia and research institutions began developing a coalition to eliminate the disease. This coalition has continued to grow and in 2000 was named the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis.

The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis is the focal point of a wide-ranging and beneficial public health intervention. Because progress towards elimination of lymphatic filariasis requires approaches and implementation techniques which are not purely medical, it is essential to involve sectors other than health in implementing and managing a successful programme. Eliminating LF will free millions of people in low-income countries from the effects of a debilitating and disfiguring disease.