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. 2006 Jan;96(1):62-72.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.050831. Epub 2005 Dec 1.

The World Health Organization and the transition from "international" to "global" public health

Theodore M Brown  1 , Marcos Cueto, Elizabeth Fee
Affiliations

The World Health Organization and the transition from "international" to "global" public health

Theodore M Brown et al. Am J Public Health. 2006 Jan.

Abstract

The term "global health" is rapidly replacing the older terminology of "international health." We describe the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in both international and global health and in the transition from one to the other. We suggest that the term "global health" emerged as part of larger political and historical processes, in which WHO found its dominant role challenged and began to reposition itself within a shifting set of power alliances. Between 1948 and 1998, WHO moved from being the unquestioned leader of international health to being an organization in crisis, facing budget shortfalls and diminished status, especially given the growing influence of new and powerful players. We argue that WHO began to refashion itself as the coordinator, strategic planner, and leader of global health initiatives as a strategy of survival in response to this transformed international political context.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
“War on the Malaria Mosquito!” Poster produced by the Division of Public Information, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1958. Courtesy of the World Health Organization. Source: Prints and Photographs Collection of the National Library of Medicine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Smallpox Vaccination Program in Togo, 1967. Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Source: Public Health Image Library, CDC.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Alma Ata Conference, 1978. Courtesy of the Pan American Health Organization. Source: Office of Public Information, PAHO.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Current Director General Jongwook Lee with three former Directors-General at the celebration to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration. From left: G. H. Brundtland, H. Mahler, H. Nakajima, Lee JW. Courtesy of the World Health Organization. Source: Media Center, WHO.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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