COMMUNITY NUTRITION 3 (1+2)

Lesson 12 : Role of International Agencies in Combating Malnutrition

World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948 and headquarters is in Geneva. WHO promotes technical co-operation for health programmes to control and eradicate disease and strives to improve the quality of human life. It has a single agenda of improving the health of the people all over the world. It monitors disease outbreaks, plans preventive measures, provides cost effective medications and combats correctively to eradicate infectious disease.

Objectives :To give worldwide guidance in the field of health.

1. To set global standards for health.
2. To cooperate with governments in strengthening national health programmes.
3. To encourage research and to develop methods to combat disease and make available their study and technology for all.

WHO works with UNICEF, UNESCO, World bank and other organizations.

Health & nutrition related functions:

• Feeding special food: WHO has recently increased nutrition work to develop the cheap foods for babies and infants, which are rich in protein.
• It educates the people about the importance of nutritious foods specifically mothers.
• It conducts medical research programme, which includes human reproduction, drug evaluation, pollution and to improve sanitary conditions. The WHO is studying the different types of medical disorders and their treatment. The main function of WHO is to sponsor the training and research for the medical practitioners of different countries.
• WHO continuously stresses on the importance of National Health Planning and the need for each country to make best utilization of the social resources.
• The WHO is always ready to serve in case of major natural calamities like floods, famines and Quakes.
• WHO acts as a source of information regarding various health problems. A wide variety of morbidity and mortality statistics relating to health problems are published by WHO.