page_title: World Health Organization
section_title: Operational history of WHO
hierarchical_section_title: World Health Organization / History and development / Operational history of WHO
caption_attribution_description: English: This 1980 photograph taken at the Centers for Disease Control, depicted three former directors of the Global Smallpox Eradication Program as they read the good news that smallpox had been eradicated on a global scale. From left to right, Dr. J. Donald Millar, who was Director from 1966 to 1970; Dr. William H. Foege, who was Director from 1970 to 1973, and Dr. J. Michael Lane, who was Director from 1973 to 1981. The worldwide eradication of this dreaded virus was due to the Smallpox Eradication Campaign of the late 1960’s, early 1970s, whereupon, a mass-vaccination program was instituted across the globe that lead to the declaration in 1978 by a global commission that smallpox had been eradicated, which was officially accepted by the 33rd World Health Assembly in 1980.
context_page_description: The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency's governing structure and principles, states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health." It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with six semi-autonomous regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.
  The WHO was established by constitution on 7 April 1948, which is commemorated as World Health Day. The first meeting of the World Health Assembly, the agency's governing body, took place on 24 July 1948. The WHO incorporated the assets, personnel, and duties of the League of Nations' Health Organisation and the Office International d'Hygiène Publique, including the International Classification of Diseases. Its work began in earnest in 1951 following a significant infusion of financial and technical resources.
  The WHO's broad mandate includes advocating for universal healthcare, monitoring public health risks, coordinating responses to health emergencies, and promoting human health and well being.
context_section_description: 1947: The WHO established an epidemiological information service via telex, and by 1950 a mass tuberculosis inoculation drive using the BCG vaccine was under way.
  1955: The malaria eradication programme was launched, although it was later altered in objective. 1955 saw the first report on diabetes mellitus and the creation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
  1958: Viktor Zhdanov, Deputy Minister of Health for the USSR, called on the World Health Assembly to undertake a global initiative to eradicate smallpox, resulting in Resolution WHA11.54. At this point, 2 million people were dying from smallpox every year.
  1966: The WHO moved its headquarters from the Ariana wing at the Palace of Nations to a newly constructed HQ elsewhere in Geneva.
  1967: The WHO intensified the global smallpox eradication by contributing $2.4 million annually to the effort and adopted a new disease surveillance method. The initial problem the WHO team faced was inadequate reporting of smallpox cases. WHO established a network of consultants who assisted countries in setting up surveillance and containment activities. The WHO also helped contain the last European outbreak in Yugoslavia in 1972. After over two decades of fighting smallpox, the WHO declared in 1979 that the disease had been eradicated – the first disease in history to be eliminated by human effort.
  1967: The WHO launched the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and the World Health Assembly voted to enact a resolution on Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, with a focus on community-driven care.
  1974: The Expanded Programme on Immunization and the control programme of onchocerciasis was started, an important partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank.
  1977: The first list of essential medicines was drawn up, and a year later the ambitious goal of "Health For All" was declared.
  1986: The WHO began its global programme on HIV/AIDS. Two years later preventing discrimination against sufferers was attended to and in 1996 UNAIDS was formed.
  1988: The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was established.
  1998: WHO's Director-General highlighted gains in child survival, reduced infant mortality, increased life expectancy and reduced rates of "scourges" such as smallpox and polio on the fiftieth anniversary of WHO's founding. He, did, however, accept that more had to be done to assist maternal health and that progress in this area had been slow.
  2000: The Stop TB Partnership was created along with the UN's formulation of the Millennium Development Goals.
  2001: The measles initiative was formed, and credited with reducing global deaths from the disease by 68% by 2007.
  2002: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was drawn up to improve the resources available.
  2006: The organization endorsed the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe, which formed the basis for global prevention, treatment, and support the plan to fight the AIDS pandemic.
caption: Three former directors of the Global Smallpox Eradication Programme read the news that smallpox had been globally eradicated, 1980
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