The who is

It was front-and-centre in the Ebola outbreak , which it declared an international emergency. Similarly, it coordinated the response to the Zika outbreak. In it declared the outbreak of the covid coronavirus a pandemic and urged governments to take strong measures to control the spread of the disease.

The WHO also sets international standards for diagnosing diseases and disorders. It maintains a catalogue called the International Classification of Diseases ICD , which lists all the known conditions and the symptoms by which they should be diagnosed. The ICD is used around the world.

It is regularly updated as medical knowledge advances, which often takes the WHO into tricky territory. In recent years the WHO has had to decide whether video gaming disorder and sex addiction are real disorders that could be diagnosed and treated.

Finally, the WHO promotes healthy lifestyles that reduce the risk of cancer , heart disease and other slow killers. It has mounted campaigns against smoking tobacco, and more recently against alcohol abuse. We are a not for profit organization dedicated to the advancement of hospice and palliative care in the world to alleviate serious health related suffering of millions of patients and families around the world.

We have over 30K visitors to our website each month. Please consider donating to help our work and to keep this website running for you and thousands like you around the world. Established on April 7, , and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the League of Nations. The WHO's constitution states that its objective "is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.

Entities may also be granted observer status: examples include the Palestine Liberation Organization, Vatican City, and Chinese Taipei. The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and from donors. In recent years, the WHO's work has involved more collaboration; there are currently around 80 such partnerships with NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as with foundations.