The World Health Organization (WHO) / Edition 1

by Kelley Lee

Overview

The World Health Organization (WHO), as the United Nations specialized agency for health, has been at the centre of international health cooperation for over sixty years. With origins dating from the nineteenth century, WHO’s mandate is the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health. The huge challenge of fulfilling this objective has not only required high-level technical skills, but has led the organization to engage with a broad range of political and economic interests. WHO has enjoyed many high-profile successes such as the global eradication of smallpox and SARS, and ongoing campaigns against polio and other diseases. On other issues, such as essential drugs, tobacco control and diet and nutrition, efforts to tackle the broader determinants of health has brought the organization into contact with issues such as globalization, poverty, social justice and human rights.

Kelley Lee analyzes the WHO’s role in international cooperation, examining its changing structures, key programmes and individuals. Of particular focus are the challenges WHO has faced in recent years given the emergence of other global health initiatives and how WHO has sought to remain effective as the "world’s health conscience" within an increasingly complex global context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415370134
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/21/2008
Series:	Global Institutions
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kelley Lee is Reader in Global Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her research focuses on communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and the implications for global governance. Her books include Globalization and Health: An Introduction (2003) and Global Change and Health (2005).

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Creation of the World Health Organization 2. Structure and functions 3. Global campaigns against disease 4. Tackling the broad determinants of health 5. From international to global health

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Alyson Lofthouse, MUPP (University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health)
Description: This book illuminates the history, structure, activities, and challenges of the WHO within the context of international health cooperation.
Purpose: The author's purpose is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the WHO within the operating context of international health cooperation, thereby eliminating an attempt to assess it against an envisioned ideal. The book is valuable in that it provides both a broad overview of the WHO and an informative analysis of the WHO's organizational structure and efforts within the context of global governance.
Audience: It is written for readers with an interest in global governance and/or the promotion of health, particularly on a global scale. The audience may reach from students in the classroom to top diplomats in a principle organ of the United Nations. The author has extensive experience in the field, including over 15 years of experience with the WHO and her current leadership at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Features: The book provides insight into the prominent aspects of global health governance. It highlights the balancing act the WHO must pursue in accordance with its three-tiered organizational structure, its normative and technical activities, the tensions (both internal and external) that arise from their approaches and strategies, and the divergence between principle and practice in carrying out their mandate. The author provides readers with a bibliography of print and electronic resources should they be interested in reading further.
Assessment: This book offers unique insight into the extent to which the WHO must negotiate and mediate economic and political interests in carrying out their mandate. As competition from emerging global health initiatives and institutional bodies increases, this book is useful to readers or investigators in that it offers both breadth and technical analysis of the WHO in a quick read format.

Doody's Review Service