Editing World Health Organization (section)

===Establishment===
During the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization, [[Szeming Sze]], a delegate from China, conferred with Norwegian and Brazilian delegates on creating an international health organization under the auspices of the new United Nations. After failing to get a resolution passed on the subject, [[Alger Hiss]], the secretary general of the conference, recommended using a declaration to establish such an organization. Sze and other delegates lobbied and a declaration passed calling for an international conference on health.<ref name="Pitt ULS">{{Cite web |title=Request Rejected |url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=ascead;cc=ascead;q1=Szeming%20Sze;rgn=main;view=text;didno=US-PPiU-ua90f141 |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=digital.library.pitt.edu}}</ref> The use of the word "world", rather than "international", emphasized the truly global nature of what the organization was seeking to achieve.<ref name="bmj1948">{{cite journal |title=World Health Organization |journal=[[The British Medical Journal]] |volume=2 |number=4570 |date=7 August 1948 |pages=302–303 |jstor=25364565 |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4570.302 |pmc=1614381}}</ref> The constitution of the World Health Organization was signed by all 51 countries of the United Nations, and by 10 other countries, on 22 July 1946.<ref name=chronicle_1947>{{cite journal|title=The Move towards a New Health Organization: International Health Conference |journal=Chronicle of the World Health Organization |volume=1 |issue=1–2 |pages=6–11 |url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hist/chronicles/chronicle_1947.pdf |year=1947 |access-date=18 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809031008/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hist/chronicles/chronicle_1947.pdf}}</ref> It thus became the first specialized agency of the United Nations to which every member subscribed.<ref name="shimkin">{{cite journal |title=The World Health Organization |first=Michael B. |last=Shimkin |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=104 |number=2700 |date=27 September 1946 |pages=281–283 |jstor=1674843 |doi=10.1126/science.104.2700.281 |pmid=17810349 |citeseerx=10.1.1.1016.3166 |bibcode=1946Sci...104..281S}}</ref> Its constitution formally came into force on the first [[World Health Day]] on 7 April 1948, when it was ratified by the 26th member state.<ref name=chronicle_1947/> The WHO formally began its work on September 1, 1948.<ref name="Ascher-1952" />

The first meeting of the [[World Health Assembly]] finished on 24 July 1948, having secured a budget of {{US$|5 million}} (then {{GBP|1250000}}) for the 1949 year. [[G. Brock Chisholm]] was appointed director-general of the WHO, having served as executive secretary and a founding member during the planning stages,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUWR85ThEfAC&pg=PA151 |isbn=9780802082596 |title=Normalizing the Ideal: Psychology, Schooling, and the Family in Postwar Canada |date=January 1999|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164809/https://books.google.com/books?id=nUWR85ThEfAC&pg=PA151 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bmj1948" /> while [[Andrija Štampar]] was the assembly's first president. Its first priorities were to control the spread of [[malaria]], [[tuberculosis]] and [[sexually transmitted infection]]s, and to improve [[maternal health|maternal]] and [[child health]], nutrition and environmental hygiene.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Origins, history, and achievements of the World Health Organization |journal=[[BMJ]] |pmc=1985854 |pmid=4869199 |volume=2 |issue=5600 |year=1968 |first=Charles |last=J |pages=293–296 |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.5600.293}}</ref> Its first legislative act was concerning the compilation of accurate statistics on the spread and morbidity of disease.<ref name="bmj1948" /> The logo of the World Health Organization features the [[Rod of Asclepius]] as a symbol for healing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.who.org.ph/ |title=World Health Organization Philippines |publisher=WHO |access-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425235921/http://www.who.org.ph/ |archive-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1959, the WHO signed Agreement WHA 12–40 with the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA), which says:<ref name="Independence-for-WHO" />

{{Cquote
| quote = whenever either organization proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organization has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement.
}}

The nature of this statement has led some groups and activists including [[Women in Europe for a Common Future]] to claim that the WHO is restricted in its ability to investigate the [[Acute radiation syndrome|effects on human health of radiation]] caused by the use of [[nuclear power]] and the continuing effects of [[Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents|nuclear disasters]] in [[Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl]] and [[Fukushima nuclear disaster|Fukushima]]. They believe WHO must regain what they see as independence.<ref name="Independence-for-WHO">{{cite web |last=Independence for WHO |title=Appeal by Health Professionals for Independence of the World Health Organization |url=http://www.ippnw-europe.org/commonFiles/pdfs/Atomenergie/appeal_healthprofessionals.pdf |access-date=19 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726185407/http://www.ippnw-europe.org/commonFiles/pdfs/Atomenergie/appeal_healthprofessionals.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Women in Europe for a Common Future |title=Open letter on the WHO/IAEA Agreement of 1959 |url=http://www.wecf.eu/download/2010/04/letterIAEA-WHO.pdf |access-date=19 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720173738/http://www.wecf.eu/download/2010/04/letterIAEA-WHO.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.activistmagazine.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=703 |title=World Health Organization Accommodates Atomic Agency |date=3 June 2007 |work=Activist Magazine |access-date=27 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928232353/http://www.activistmagazine.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=703 |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> Independent WHO held a weekly vigil from 2007 to 2017 in front of WHO headquarters.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://independentwho.org/en/ |title=The World Health Organisation (WHO) is failing in its duty to protect those populations who are victims of radioactive contamination. |date=2020 |website=IndependentWHO |language=en-US |access-date=8 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323034159/http://independentwho.org/en/ |archive-date=23 March 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, as pointed out by Foreman<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Foreman |first=Mark R. St J. |date=2018-01-01 |editor-last=Slawin |editor-first=Alexandra Martha Zoya |title=Reactor accident chemistry an update |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23312009.2018.1450944 |journal=Cogent Chemistry |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1450944 |doi=10.1080/23312009.2018.1450944|doi-access=free }}</ref> in clause 2 it states:

{{Cquote
| quote = In particular, and in accordance with the Constitution of the World Health Organization and the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its agreement with the United Nations together with the exchange of letters related thereto, and taking into account the respective co-ordinating responsibilities of both organizations, it is recognized by the World Health Organization that the International Atomic Energy Agency has the primary responsibility for encouraging, assisting and co-ordinating research and development and practical application of atomic energy for peaceful uses throughout the world without prejudice to the right of the World Health Organization to concern itself with promoting, developing, assisting and co-ordinating international health work, including research, in all its aspects.
}}

The key text is highlighted in bold, the agreement in clause 2 states that the WHO is free to perform any health-related work.