356 results on '"World Health Organization history"'
Search Results
2. In Memory of Dr. Taba, the Legendary WHO Regional Director.
- Author
-
Motarjemi Y
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Iran, Humans, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
The article is a tribute to Dr. Abdul-Hossein Tabatabai-Naini, the former Regional Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), on the occasion of WHO's 75th anniversary. It reports on his achievements, personality, and philosophy of medicine., (© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.)
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Evolution of the WHO "Semen" processing manual from the first (1980) to the sixth edition (2021).
- Author
-
Wang C, Mbizvo M, Festin MP, Björndahl L, and Toskin I
- Subjects
- Diffusion of Innovation, Fertility, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Infertility, Male history, Infertility, Male pathology, Infertility, Male physiopathology, Male, Infertility, Male diagnosis, Manuals as Topic standards, Semen Analysis history, Semen Analysis standards, Semen Analysis trends, Spermatozoa pathology, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
As stated clearly in all editions of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen, the goal of the manual is to meet the growing needs for the standardization of semen analysis procedures. With constant advances in andrology and reproductive medicine and the advent of sophisticated assisted reproductive technologies for the treatment of infertility, the manual has been continuously updated to meet the need for new, evidence-based, validated tests to not only measure semen and sperm variables but also to provide a functional assessment of spermatozoa. The sixth edition of the WHO manual, launched in 2021, can be freely downloaded from the WHO website, with the hope of gaining wide acceptance and utilization as the essential source of the latest, evidence-based information for laboratory procedures required for the assessment of male reproductive function and health., (Copyright © 2021 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. WHO's Tedros set to be re-elected unopposed.
- Author
-
Zarocostas J
- Subjects
- COVID-19 prevention & control, COVID-19 Vaccines administration & dosage, Ethiopia, Health Services Needs and Demand, History, 21st Century, Humans, Pandemics prevention & control, SARS-CoV-2, Global Health history, Health Equity history, Leadership, World Health Organization history
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Analysing malaria events from 1840 to 2020: the narrative told through postage stamps.
- Author
-
Brabin B
- Subjects
- History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Malaria prevention & control, Philately classification, World Health Organization history, Malaria history, Philately history
- Abstract
The role played by postage stamps in the history of malaria control and eradication has largely gone unrecognized. Scientific investigators of malaria, especially Nobel laureates, were commemorated with special issues, but the work of the World Health Organization (WHO), which promoted an ambitious and global philatelic initiative in 1962 to support global eradication, is generally overlooked. This review examines the philatelic programme that helped to generate international commitment to the goal of malaria eradication in 1962 and established philatelic malaria icons that had worldwide recognition. Malaria-related postage stamps have continued to be issued since then, but the initial failure of malaria eradication and the changing goals of each new malaria programme, inevitably diluted their role. After the first Global Malaria Eradication Campaign was discontinued in 1969, few Nations released philatelic issues. Since the Spirit of Dakar Call for Action in 1996 a resurgence of postage stamp releases has occurred, largely tracking global malaria control initiatives introduced between 1996 and 2020. These releases were not co-ordinated by the WHO as before, were more commercialized and targeted stamp collectors, especially with attractive miniature sheets, often produced by photomontage. Having a different purpose, they demonstrated a much wider diversity in symbolism than the earlier stylized issues and at times, have been scientifically inaccurate. Nonetheless postage stamps greatly helped to communicate the importance of malaria control programmes to a wide audience and to some extent, have supported preventive health messages., (© 2021. The Author(s).)
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Li Song: driving China's maternal and child health transformation.
- Author
-
Lane R
- Subjects
- China, Female, History, 21st Century, Humans, Child Health history, Leadership, Maternal Health history, Physicians, Women history, Public Health history, Rural Health history, World Health Organization history
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Updates from the 2020 World Health Organization Classification of Soft Tissue and Bone Tumours.
- Author
-
Anderson WJ and Doyle LA
- Subjects
- History, 21st Century, Humans, Bone Neoplasms classification, Bone Neoplasms diagnosis, Bone Neoplasms pathology, Soft Tissue Neoplasms classification, Soft Tissue Neoplasms diagnosis, Soft Tissue Neoplasms pathology, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
The fifth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of soft tissue and bone tumours was published in May 2020. This 'Blue Book', which is also available digitally for the first time, incorporates an array of new information on these tumours, amassed in the 7 years since the previous edition. Major advances in molecular characterisation have driven further refinements in classification and the development of ancillary diagnostic tests, and have improved our understanding of disease pathogenesis. Several new entities are also included. This review summarises the main changes introduced in the 2020 WHO classification for each subcategory of soft tissue and bone tumours., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Historical epidemiology and global health history.
- Author
-
Webb J Jr
- Subjects
- Africa, Communicable Disease Control history, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola prevention & control, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola transmission, History, 20th Century, Hookworm Infections prevention & control, Humans, Malaria prevention & control, Public Health Practice history, World Health Organization history, Epidemiology history, Global Health history, Health Promotion history, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola history, Hookworm Infections history, Malaria history
- Abstract
The subdiscipline of historical epidemiology holds the promise of creating a more robust and more nuanced foundation for global public health decision-making by deepening the empirical record from which we draw lessons about past interventions. This essay draws upon historical epidemiological research on three global public health campaigns to illustrate this promise: the Rockefeller Foundation's efforts to control hookworm disease (1909-c.1930), the World Health Organization's pilot projects for malaria eradication in tropical Africa (1950s-1960s), and the international efforts to shut down the transmission of Ebola virus disease during outbreaks in tropical Africa (1974-2019).
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Regional cooperation and health diplomacy in Africa: from intra-colonial exchanges to multilateral health institutions.
- Author
-
Havik PJ
- Subjects
- Africa South of the Sahara, Colonialism history, History, 20th Century, World Health Organization history, Congresses as Topic history, Diplomacy history, International Cooperation history, Public Health Administration history
- Abstract
Tracing the pathways of cooperation in health in sub-Saharan Africa from hesitant exchanges to institutionalized dimensions from the 1920s to the early 1960s, this article addresses regional dynamics in health diplomacy which have so far been under-researched. The evolution thereof from early beginnings with the League of Nations Health Organization to the Commission for Technical Assistance South of the Sahara and the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa, shows how bilateral dimensions were superseded by WHO's multilateral model of regional cooperation in health. Alignments, divergences, and outcomes are explored with respect to the strategies and policies pursued by colonial powers and independent African states regarding inter-regional relations, and their implications for public health and epidemiological interventions.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. "Debordering" public health: the changing patterns of health border in modern Europe.
- Author
-
Zylberman P
- Subjects
- Asia, Communicable Disease Control methods, Europe, Global Health history, History, 18th Century, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Hospitals, Isolation history, Malaria history, Malaria prevention & control, Politics, Quarantine history, World Health Organization history, Communicable Disease Control history, Public Health Practice history
- Abstract
According to David Fidler, the governance of infectious diseases evolved from the mid-nineteenth to the twenty-first century as a series of institutional arrangements: the International Sanitary Regulations (non-interference and disease control at borders), the World Health Organization vertical programs (malaria and smallpox eradication campaigns), and a post-Westphalian regime standing beyond state-centrism and national interest. But can international public health be reduced to such a Westphalian image? We scrutinize three strategies that brought health borders into prominence: pre-empting weak states (eastern Mediterranean in the nineteenth century); preventing the spread of disease through nation-building (Macedonian public health system in the 1920s); and debordering the fight against epidemics (1920-1921 Russian-Polish war and the Warsaw 1922 Sanitary Conference).
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Water and the death of ambition in global health, c.1970-1990.
- Author
-
McMillen C
- Subjects
- Africa, History, 20th Century, Humans, United Nations history, World Health Organization history, Global Health history, Public Health Practice history, Sanitation history, Water Supply history
- Abstract
Economic development and good health depended on access to clean water and sanitation. Therefore, because economic development and good health depended on access to clean water and sanitation, beginning in the early 1970s the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and others began a period of sustained interest in developing both for the billions without either. During the 1980s, two massive and wildly ambitious projects showed what was possible. The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade and the Blue Nile Health Project aimed for nothing less than the total overhaul of the way water was developed. This was, according to the WHO, "development in the spirit of social justice."
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. The role of the World Health Organization country programs in the development of virology in Spain, 1951-1975.
- Author
-
Porras MI and Báguena MJ
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, Humans, Spain, Biomedical Research history, Public Health Practice history, Virology history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
Within the framework of recent historiography about the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in modernizing public health and the multifaceted concept of global health, this study addresses the impact of the WHO's "country programs" in Spain from the time it was admitted to this organization in 1951 to 1975. This research adopts a transnational historical perspective and emphasizes attention to the circulation of health knowledge, practices, and people, and focuses on the Spain-0001 and Spain-0025programs, their role in the development of virology in Spain, and the transformation of public health. Sources include historical archives (WHO, the Spanish National Health School), various WHO publications, the contemporary medical press, and a selection of the Spanish general press.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Global health in the making: health demonstration areas in Europe, 1950s and 1960s.
- Author
-
Rodríguez-Ocaña E
- Subjects
- Education history, Europe, Health Services history, History, 20th Century, Humans, World Health Organization history, Global Health history, Public Health Practice history
- Abstract
Global health is a multifaceted concept that entails the standardization of procedures in healthcare domains in accordance with a doctrine agreed upon by experts. This essay focus on the creation of health demonstration areas by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to establish core nodes for integrated state-of-the-art health services. It explores the origins, theoretical basis and aims of this technique and reviews several European experiences during the first 20 years of the WHO. Particular attention is paid to the historical importance of technical cooperative activities carried out by the WHO in regard to the implementation of health services, a long-term strategic move that contributed to the thematic upsurge of primary health care in the late 1970s.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. The World Health Organization's changing goals and expectations concerning malaria, 1948-2019.
- Author
-
Litsios S
- Subjects
- Africa, Communicable Disease Control methods, Disease Eradication history, Goals, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Malaria prevention & control, Mosquito Control methods, Communicable Disease Control history, Malaria history, Mosquito Control history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
From its inception, in 1948, the World Health Organization made control of malaria a high priority. Early successes led many to believe that eradication was possible, although there were serious doubts concerning the continent of Africa. As evidence mounted that eradicating malaria was not a simple matter, the malaria eradication programme was downgraded to a unit in 1980. Revived interest in malaria followed the Roll Back Malaria Initiative adopted in 1998. This article presents an historical account of the globally changing ideas on control and elimination of the disease and argues that insufficient attention was paid to strengthening health services and specialized human resources.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. (Re-)Making a People's WHO.
- Author
-
Birn AE and Nervi L
- Subjects
- COVID-19, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Public-Private Sector Partnerships, World Health Organization economics, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics, Pneumonia, Viral, World Health Organization history, World Health Organization organization & administration
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. Between Donor Interest, Global Models and Local Conditions: Treatment and Decision-Making in the Somalia-Finland Tuberculosis Control Project, 1981-3.
- Author
-
Harju K
- Subjects
- Antitubercular Agents therapeutic use, Communicable Disease Control methods, Finland, Guidelines as Topic, History, 20th Century, Humans, Lung diagnostic imaging, Radiography, Thoracic history, Somalia, Tuberculosis, Pulmonary diagnosis, Tuberculosis, Pulmonary drug therapy, Tuberculosis, Pulmonary prevention & control, World Health Organization history, Antitubercular Agents history, Communicable Disease Control history, International Cooperation history, Tuberculosis, Pulmonary history
- Abstract
Despite numerous global health initiatives after World War II, tuberculosis still poses a major threat in sub-Saharan Africa. This article examines one attempt to tackle this problem: the Somalia-Finland Tuberculosis Control Project. Conducted in the 1980s as a bilateral development aid project between the two countries, it became the most extensive - and expensive - tuberculosis initiative in Somalia in that decade. An interesting feature of the project is that, despite a lack of previous experience in tuberculosis work in developing countries, the Finnish partner decided not to follow the WHO global guidelines designed to standardise tuberculosis activities across the developing world. Instead, Finns established their own treatment programme based on X-ray and short-course chemotherapy - otherwise rarely used in clinical practice in Africa. Through a close reading and comparison of the correspondence, project plans, memos and minutes, the article analyses the formation of this strategy. Focusing on ground-level decision-making, it argues that the decisions were based not only on a belief in the superior clinical effectiveness of these methods, but also on the fact that they better suited Finnish ambitions and project logic. Thus, the article supports the notion that donor perspectives on resources and project objectives determined what was seen as feasible treatment in a developing country. By shedding light on the debate between the supporters of short-course chemotherapy and the WHO standard treatment strategy, it also contributes to the early history of DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course)., (© The Author 2019.)
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. Re-assessing the Foundations: Worldwide Smallpox Eradication, 1957-67.
- Author
-
Bhattacharya S and Campani CEDP
- Subjects
- Disease Eradication organization & administration, History, 20th Century, Humans, Smallpox prevention & control, World Health Organization history, Disease Eradication history, Global Health history, Historiography, International Cooperation history, Smallpox history
- Abstract
An expansive, worldwide smallpox eradication programme (SEP) was announced by the World Health Assembly in 1958, leading this decision-making body to instruct the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva to work with WHO regional offices to engage and draw in national governments to ensure success. Tabled by the Soviet Union's representative and passed by a majority vote by member states, the announcement was subject to intense diplomatic negotiations. This led to the formation, expansion and reshaping of an ambitious and complex campaign that cut across continents and countries. This article examines these inter-twining international, regional and national processes, and challenges long-standing historiographical assumptions about the fight against smallpox only gathering strength from the mid-1960s onwards, after the start of a US-supported programme in western Africa. The evidence presented here suggests a far more complex picture. It shows that although the SEP's structures grew slowly between 1958 and 1967, a worldwide eradication programme resulted from international negotiations made possible through gains during this period. Significant progress in limiting the incidence of smallpox sustained international collaboration, and justified the prolongation and expansion of activities. Indeed, all of this bore diplomatic and legal processes within the World Health Assembly and WHO that acted as the foundation of the so-called intensified phase of the SEP and the multi-faceted activities that led to the certification of smallpox eradication in 1980., (© The Authors 2019.)
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. "Imagine All the People:" Andrija Štampar's Ideology in The Context of Contemporary Public Health Initiatives
- Author
-
Fatović-Ferenčić S and Kuhar M
- Subjects
- Croatia, History, 20th Century, Humans, Schools, Public Health history, Universal Health Insurance history, World Health Organization history, Yugoslavia, Delivery of Health Care history, Public Health history, Social Medicine history
- Abstract
Recently, the World Health Organization launched its Universal Health Coverage initiative with the aim to improve access to quality health care on a global level, without causing financial hardship to the patients. In this paper, we will identify and analyze the ideological similarities between this influential initiative and the work of one of the founders of the WHO-Andrija Štampar (1888-1958)-whose social medicine was built of various normative, sociological and philosophical elements. Our aim is to demonstrate the crucial role of carefully erected and thought-out ideology for the success of public health programs.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. The historical roots and seminal research on health equity: a referenced publication year spectroscopy (RPYS) analysis.
- Author
-
Yao Q, Li X, Luo F, Yang L, Liu C, and Sun J
- Subjects
- Global Health history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Publishing, World Health Organization history, Health Equity history, Health Status Disparities, Socioeconomic Factors history
- Abstract
Background: Health equity is a multidimensional concept that has been internationally considered as an essential element for health system development. However, our understanding about the root causes of health equity is limited. In this study, we investigated the historical roots and seminal works of research on health equity., Methods: Health equity-related publications were identified and downloaded from the Web of Science database (n = 67,739, up to 31 October 2018). Their cited references (n = 2,521,782) were analyzed through Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS), which detected the historical roots and important works on health equity and quantified their impact in terms of referencing frequency., Results: A total of 17 pronounced peaks and 31 seminal works were identified. The first publication on health equity appeared in 1966. But the first cited reference can be traced back to 1801. Most seminal works were conducted by researchers from the US (19, 61.3%), the UK (7, 22.6%) and the Netherlands (3, 9.7%). Research on health equity experienced three important historical stages: origins (1800-1965), formative (1966-1991) and development and expansion (1991-2018). The ideology of health equity was endorsed by the international society through the World Health Organization (1946) declaration based on the foundational works of Chadwick (1842), Engels (1945), Durkheim (1897) and Du Bois (1899). The concept of health equity originated from the disciplines of public health, sociology and political economics and has been a major research area of social epidemiology since the early nineteenth century. Studies on health equity evolved from evidence gathering to the identification of cost-effective policies and governmental interventions., Conclusion: The development of research on health equity is shaped by multiple disciplines, which has contributed to the emergence of a new stream of social epidemiology and political epidemiology. Past studies must be interpreted in light of their historical contexts. Further studies are needed to explore the causal pathways between the social determinants of health and health inequalities.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. Vaccine Development and Collaborations: Lessons from the History of the Meningococcal A Vaccine (1969-73).
- Author
-
Baylac-Paouly B
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, Humans, Meningitis, Meningococcal prevention & control, Polysaccharides, Bacterial, World Health Organization history, International Cooperation history, Meningitis, Meningococcal history, Meningococcal Vaccines history
- Abstract
Based on a wide range of historical sources, including published scientific literature and archives (Institut Mérieux, WHO and IMTSSA), this article examines the history of the development of the meningococcal A vaccine between 1969 and 1973. It explores the social factors of vaccine development including various collaborations, informal discussions, the circulation of products and materials, formal meetings, trials and setbacks to highlight the complex reality of the development, production and use of the vaccine. Inscribed in a 'Golden Age' of vaccine development and production, this episode not only adds to the scholarship on the history of vaccines, which has tended to focus on a narrative of progress, but also considers the sharing of knowledge through collaborations, and the risks involved in the development of a vaccine. Finally, this perspective reveals the uncertainties and difficulties underlying the production of an effective vaccine., (© The Author 2019.)
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Insulin Units and Conversion Factors: A Story of Truth, Boots, and Faster Half-Truths.
- Author
-
Knopp JL, Holder-Pearson L, and Chase JG
- Subjects
- Cross-Cultural Comparison, Dosage Forms, History, 20th Century, Humans, Insulin analysis, Internationality, Osmolar Concentration, Reference Standards, World Health Organization history, Drug Dosage Calculations, Insulin administration & dosage, International System of Units history
- Abstract
Conventional insulin concentration units (IU/mL or just U/mL) are bioefficacy based, whereas the Système International (SI) units (pmol/L) are mass based. In converting between these two different approaches, there are at least 2 well-accepted conversion factors, where there should be only 1. The correct value is not the most-used or well-accepted using online calculators, some journal styles, laboratory reports, and published articles. In short, an incorrect insulin conversion factor is widely used which underreports insulin concentrations by ~15%, with potentially significant research and clinical implications. This short commentary describes the history of insulin IU definitions and conversion factors, and highlights the widespread nature of conversion factor misuse, to provoke deeper interest and thought regarding numbers we so often use without thinking.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. A Historical Review of WHO Certification of Malaria Elimination.
- Author
-
Li XH, Kondrashin A, Greenwood B, Lindblade K, Loku Galappaththy G, and Alonso P
- Subjects
- Certification history, Certification legislation & jurisprudence, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Disease Eradication history, Malaria prevention & control, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
A malaria-free world remains the vision of the global community. Malaria elimination within the territory of a country is a pathway to achieving the ultimate goal of eradication. Certification of malaria elimination in a country is the official recognition of this important achievement. The concepts of eradication and elimination, and criteria for certification of malaria elimination, have guided national programs in their efforts to achieve and maintain elimination. They have evolved from the experiences and setbacks of the global eradication program, and on the contemporaneous understanding of the concepts of achieving and maintaining elimination. WHO's certification has been successful, with the majority of certified countries remaining malaria free, but to operationalize the criterion for preventing re-establishment of transmission remains challenging., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Moving Away from the "Medical Model": The Development and Revision of the World Health Organization's Classification of Disability.
- Author
-
Hogan AJ
- Subjects
- Disabled Persons classification, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Disabled Persons history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
Recently, there has been a prominent call in the history of medicine for greater engagement with disability perspectives. In this article, I suggest that critiques of the so-called medical model have been an important vehicle by which alternative narratives of disability entered the clinical arena. Historians of medicine have rarely engaged with the medical model beyond descriptive accounts of it. I argue that to more adequately address disability perspectives, historians of medicine must better historicize the medical model concept and critique, which has been drawn upon by physicians, activists, and others to advance particular perspectives on disability. My present contribution describes two distinct formulations of critique that originated in differing interest groups and characterized the medical model alternatively as insufficient and oppressive. I examine the World Health Organization's efforts to incorporate these distinctive medical model critiques during the development and revision of its International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. [Public health in Franco's Spain as seen from the World Health Organization: the Brockington Report (1967)].
- Author
-
Rodríguez-Ocaña E
- Subjects
- Armed Conflicts, Health Policy, History, 20th Century, National Health Programs organization & administration, Spain, Fascism history, National Health Programs history, Public Health history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
The aim of this note is to introduce the report on the health system of Spain written in 1967 by the WHO expert on Public Health Administration, and retired professor of the University of Manchester, Prof. CF Brockington, I summarise along general lines the relationships established between Spain and the WHO, describe the role of consultants, give an outline of the character of this author and the political context of the time. I also describe the difficulties encountered with his recommendations, which can nevertheless be viewed as seminal contributions to the major changes that were to take place during the Spanish Democratic Transition. The full text of the Report, in Spanish, can be accessed in the online Appendix of this article., (Copyright © 2018 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. "Spanish Flu": When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected.
- Author
-
Hoppe T
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, Humans, United States epidemiology, Communicable Diseases history, Global Health history, Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919 history, Terminology as Topic, Travel history, World Health Organization history, Xenophobia history
- Abstract
Despite not originating in Spain, the 1918 influenza pandemic is commonly known as the "Spanish flu"-a name that reflects a tendency in public health history to associate new infectious diseases with foreign nationals and foreign countries. Intentional or not, an effect of this naming convention is to communicate a causal relationship between foreign populations and the spread of infectious disease, potentially promoting irrational fear and stigma. I address two relevant issues to help contextualize these naming practices. First is whether, in an age of global hyperinterconnectedness, fear of the other is truly irrational or has a rational basis. The empirical literature assessing whether restricting global airline travel can mitigate the global spread of modern epidemics suggests that the role of travel may be overemphasized. Second is the persistence of xenophobic responses to infectious disease in the face of contrary evidence. To help explain this, I turn to the health communication literature. Scholars argue that promoting an association between foreigners and a particular epidemic can be a rhetorical strategy for either promoting fear or, alternatively, imparting a sense of safety to the public.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
26. Shekhar Saxena: making mental health a development priority.
- Author
-
Davies R
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, India, Switzerland, Psychiatry history, World Health Organization history
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. [Technical assistance in crisis times: Brucelosis in the country programs for Spain of the world health organization (1951-1972)].
- Author
-
González Hernández M, Ballester Añón R, Porras Gallo MI, and Báguena Cervellera MJ
- Subjects
- Animals, Brucellosis epidemiology, Brucellosis prevention & control, Communicable Disease Control methods, Goats, History, 20th Century, Humans, Sheep, Spain epidemiology, Vaccination, Zoonoses epidemiology, Zoonoses prevention & control, Brucellosis history, Communicable Disease Control history, World Health Organization history, Zoonoses history
- Abstract
Objective: Brucellosis was one of the most important health problems in post-Civil War Spain and in subsequent years. The objective of the study was to reconstruct the first programs that the WHO set up in this country, to address this problem, between 1951 and 1972 and their main outcomes., Methods: On the basis of primary sources of diverse origin, especially unpublished reports on Spain from foreign experts, from the WHO Historical Archive, the contents related to the disease were analyzed, contextualizing them within the framework of both the history of Spanish Public Health during the period studied and the international public health strategies for the prevention and control of brucellosis between 1951 and 1972., Results: Spain 0001 (E1), Spain 0012 (E12) programs were located. The first of them (E1), dedicated to the problem of endemoepidemic diseases (brucellosis, rabies and Q fever), developed between 1952 and 1956, offered assistance in the work of control of these diseases carried out by public health laboratories. The second was preceded by visits of experts between 1956-1958 and formally started in 1969 and ended in 1972. This program was specifically devoted to the fight against brucellosis and included the start-up of laboratory and epidemiological work, the training of specialists, vaccination experiences in goats and sheep and the initiation of studies on immunizations in humans., Conclusions: The presence of consultants and experts from the WHO, from the highest scientific authority in the field of brucellosis such as Sandford Elberg or Martin Kaplan, was decisive in, at least, two aspects: first, to have an external view that would allow to know the reality of the Spanish health situation in the matter of the control of this zoonosis and, secondly, to start up and develop laboratory techniques and training of specialists with the aim of creating, at least, a center of reference for the preparation of vaccines, which the experts placed, ideally, in the National School of Health in Madrid.
- Published
- 2018
28. Visualising Primary Health Care: World Health Organization Representations of Community Health Workers, 1970-89.
- Author
-
Medcalf A and Nunes J
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, Humans, Community Health Workers history, Primary Health Care history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
For the World Health Organization (WHO), the 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration marked a move away from the disease-specific and technologically-focused programmes of the 1950s and 1960s towards a reimagined strategy to provide 'Health for All by the Year 2000'. This new approach was centred on primary health care, a vision based on acceptable methods and appropriate technologies, devised in collaboration with communities and dependent on their full participation. Since 1948, the WHO had used mass communications strategies to publicise its initiatives and shape public attitudes, and the policy shift in the 1970s required a new visual strategy. In this context, community health workers (CHWs) played a central role as key visual identifiers of Health for All. This article examines a period of picturing and public information work on the part of the WHO regarding CHWs. It sets out to understand how the visual politics of the WHO changed to accommodate PHC as a new priority programme from the 1970s onwards. The argument tracks attempts to define CHWs and examines the techniques employed by the WHO during the 1970s and early 1980s to promote the concept to different audiences around the world. It then moves to explore how the process was evaluated, as well as the difficulties in procuring fresh imagery. Finally, the article traces these representations through the 1980s, when community approaches came under sustained pressure from external and internal factors and imagery took on the supplementary role of defending the concept.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. Health Planning in 1960s Africa: International Health Organisations and the Post-Colonial State.
- Author
-
Manton J and Gorsky M
- Subjects
- Africa, Colonialism, Government Agencies organization & administration, History, 20th Century, United States, World Health Organization organization & administration, Government Agencies history, Health Planning history, Health Planning organization & administration, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
This article explores the programme of national health planning carried out in the 1960s in West and Central Africa by the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Health plans were intended as integral aspects of economic development planning in five newly independent countries: Gabon, Liberia, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone. We begin by showing that this episode is treated only superficially in the existing WHO historiography, then introduce some relevant critical literature on the history of development planning. Next we outline the context for health planning, noting: the opportunities which independence from colonial control offered to international development agencies; the WHO's limited capacity in Africa; and its preliminary efforts to avoid imposing Western values or partisan views of health system organisation. Our analysis of the plans themselves suggests they lacked the necessary administrative and statistical capacity properly to gauge local needs, while the absence of significant financial resources meant that they proposed little more than augmentation of existing structures. By the late 1960s optimism gave way to disappointment as it became apparent that implementation had been minimal. We describe the ensuing conflict within WHO over programme evaluation and ongoing expenditure, which exposed differences of opinion between African and American officials over approaches to international health aid. We conclude with a discussion of how the plans set in train longer processes of development planning, and, perhaps less desirably, gave bureaucratic shape to the post-colonial state.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. A History of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
- Author
-
Repacholi MH
- Subjects
- Advisory Committees history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, International Cooperation history, World Health Organization history, International Agencies history, Radiation Protection history, Radiation, Nonionizing adverse effects
- Abstract
Concern about health risks from exposure to non-ionizing radiation (NIR) commenced in the 1950s after tracking radars were first introduced during the Second World War. Soon after, research on possible biological effects of microwave radiation in the former Soviet Union and the U.S. led to public and worker exposure limits being much lower in Eastern European than in Western countries, mainly because of different protection philosophies. As public concern increased, national authorities began introducing legislation to limit NIR exposures from domestic microwave ovens and workplace devices such as visual display units. The International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) was formed in 1966 to represent national radiation protection societies. To address NIR protection issues, IRPA established a Working Group in 1974, then a Study Group in 1975, and finally the International NIR Committee (INIRC) in 1977. INIRC's publications quickly became accepted worldwide, and it was logical that it should become an independent commission. IRPA finally established the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), chartering its remit in 1992, and defining NIR as electromagnetic radiation (ultraviolet, visible, infrared), electromagnetic waves and fields, and infra- and ultrasound. ICNIRP's guidelines have been incorporated into legislation or adopted as standards in many countries. While ICNIRP has been subjected to criticism and close scrutiny by the public, media, and activists, it has continued to issue well-received, independent, science-based protection advice. This paper summarizes events leading to the formation of ICNIRP, its key activities up to 2017, ICNIRP's 25th anniversary year, and its future challenges.
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. Halfdan Mahler.
- Author
-
Gulland A
- Subjects
- Diplomacy history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, United Kingdom, Global Health history, World Health Organization history
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. Halfdan Mahler.
- Author
-
Snyder A
- Subjects
- Denmark, Health Promotion history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Primary Health Care history, Global Health history, World Health Organization history
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. DA Henderson, Smallpox Eradicator.
- Author
-
Tarantola D
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, International Cooperation history, Smallpox prevention & control, World Health Organization history, Disease Eradication history, Smallpox history, Smallpox Vaccine history
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. At the Roots of The World Health Organization's Challenges: Politics and Regionalization.
- Author
-
Fee E, Cueto M, and Brown TM
- Subjects
- Developed Countries history, Developing Countries history, Europe, Eastern, Global Health, History, 20th Century, Humans, USSR, United States, World Health Organization economics, Politics, World Health Organization history, World Health Organization organization & administration
- Abstract
The World Health Organization's (WHO's) leadership challenges can be traced to its first decades of existence. Central to its governance and practice is regionalization: the division of its member countries into regions, each representing 1 geographical or cultural area. The particular composition of each region has varied over time-reflecting political divisions and especially decolonization. Currently, the 194 member countries belong to 6 regions: the Americas (35 countries), Europe (53 countries), the Eastern Mediterranean (21 countries), South-East Asia (11 countries), the Western Pacific (27 countries), and Africa (47 countries). The regions have considerable autonomy with their own leadership, budget, and priorities. This regional organization has been controversial since its beginnings in the first days of WHO, when representatives of the European countries believed that each country should have a direct relationship with the headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, whereas others (especially the United States) argued in favor of the regionalization plan. Over time, regional directors have inevitably challenged the WHO directors-general over their degree of autonomy, responsibilities and duties, budgets, and national composition; similar tensions have occurred within regions. This article traces the historical roots of these challenges.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. Donald Ainslie Henderson (1928-2016).
- Author
-
Breman J
- Subjects
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. history, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. organization & administration, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Smallpox epidemiology, United States, Vaccination history, World Health Organization history, World Health Organization organization & administration, Disease Eradication history, Disease Eradication organization & administration, Global Health history, Smallpox history, Smallpox Vaccine history
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Policy Innovation and Policy Pathways: Tuberculosis Control in Sri Lanka, 1948-1990.
- Author
-
Jones M
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, Humans, Sri Lanka, Tuberculosis prevention & control, World Health Organization history, Communicable Disease Control history, Health Policy history, Tuberculosis history
- Abstract
This paper, based on World Health Organization and Sri Lankan sources, examines the attempts to control tuberculosis in Sri Lanka from independence in 1948. It focuses particularly on the attempt in 1966 to implement a World Health Organization model of community-orientated tuberculosis control that sought to establish a horizontally structured programme through the integration of control into the general health services. The objective was to create a cost- effective method of control that relied on a simple bacteriological test for case finding and for treatment at the nearest health facility that would take case detection and treatment to the rural periphery where specialist services were lacking. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sri Lanka had already established a specialist control programme composed of chest clinics, mass X-ray, inpatient and domiciliary treatment, and social assistance for sufferers. This programme had both reduced mortality and enhanced awareness of the disease. This paper exposes the obstacles presented in trying to impose the World Health Organization's internationally devised model onto the existing structure of tuberculosis control already operating in Sri Lanka. One significant hindrance to the WHO approach was lack of resources but, equally important, was the existing medical culture that militated against its acceptance.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. Donald Ainslee Henderson, 1928-2016.
- Author
-
Inglesby T
- Subjects
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Smallpox prevention & control, United States, World Health Organization history, Global Health history, Smallpox history
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Vladimir Albert Lovric, MB BS, FRCPA, DipClinPath, GradDipPH, FRCPath, FRACP.
- Author
-
Lovric M
- Subjects
- Australia, Awards and Prizes, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Indonesia, Leadership, Military Medicine history, New Zealand, Serbia, World Health Organization history, Biomedical Research history, Hematology history, Pathology, Clinical history
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. The 1959 meeting in Vienna on controlled clinical trials - A methodological landmark.
- Author
-
Bird SM
- Subjects
- Austria, Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic standards, History, 20th Century, Humans, United Nations history, World Health Organization history, Congresses as Topic history, Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic history
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. Nordic School of Public Health NHV and its legacy in global health.
- Author
-
Krettek A, Karlsson LE, Toan TK, and Chuc NT
- Subjects
- Biomedical Research history, Biomedical Research organization & administration, Cooperative Behavior, Global Health education, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Public Health education, Scandinavian and Nordic Countries, World Health Organization history, World Health Organization organization & administration, Global Health history, Public Health history, Schools, Public Health history
- Abstract
This article describes the legacy of the Nordic School of Public Health NHV (NHV) in global health. We delineate how this field developed at NHV and describe selected research and research training endeavours with examples from Vietnam and Nepal as well as long-term teaching collaborations such as BRIMHEALTH (Baltic RIM Partnership for Public HEALTH) in the Baltic countries and Arkhangelsk International School of Public Health in Russia., (© 2015 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.)
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Local health policies under the microscope: consultants, experts, international missions and poliomyelitis in Spain, 1950-1975.
- Author
-
Ballester R, Porras MI, and Báguena MJ
- Subjects
- Child, Disabled Children history, Disabled Children rehabilitation, History, 20th Century, Humans, Poliomyelitis epidemiology, Poliomyelitis rehabilitation, Political Systems history, Spain epidemiology, World Health Organization history, Health Policy history, Medical Missions history, Poliomyelitis history
- Abstract
One of the main focuses of analysis of this paper concerns the missions of international health agency experts to Spain to report on the situation, the activities in the fight against physical disabilities in children and on the actions taken to cope with the problem. The Spain-23 Plan was the instrument used by WHO and other agencies to start the process of change in a country undergoing a period of transformation under the enduring Franco dictatorship. As key sources, the paper uses unpublished reports of WHO experts on the subject, which resulted from visits to the country between 1950 and 1975. The methodological approach consists of an analysis of discourses from primary sources within the historiographical framework.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. In memory of Giovanni Berlinguer. The Man, the Scientist, the Politician.
- Author
-
Maida A
- Subjects
- Bioethics history, European Union, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Italy, Leadership, Parasitology history, Philosophy, Medical history, Preventive Medicine history, United Nations history, World Health Organization history, Books history, Faculty, Medical history, Politics, Public Health history
- Abstract
On this occasion I am very grateful to the Academic Authorities for having asked me to illustrate the life of Giovanni Berlinguer as a Researcher, a Professor and a Doctor of Public Health. I will try to fulfill this duty, perhaps with some reservations, because I find it almost impossible to think of Giovanni as a researcher and a professor separately from his complex personality and his role as a politician and a brilliant and prolific writer. This is because Giovanni was an inextricable combination of all these roles, which cannot be described separately.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum: Africa's veteran Ebola hunter.
- Author
-
Honigsbaum M
- Subjects
- Academies and Institutes history, Academies and Institutes organization & administration, Africa, Burial history, Burial methods, Disease Outbreaks prevention & control, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, World Health Organization history, Disease Outbreaks history, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola epidemiology, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola history
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. World citizenship and the emergence of the social psychiatry project of the World Health Organization, 1948-c.1965.
- Author
-
Wu HY
- Subjects
- Combat Disorders history, History, 20th Century, Humans, Internationality history, Mental Disorders history, Mental Disorders therapy, Warfare, Biomedical Research history, Community Psychiatry history, Congresses as Topic history, Mental Health history, Psychiatry history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between 'world citizenship' and the new psychiatric research paradigm established by the World Health Organization in the early post-World War II period. Endorsing the humanitarian ideological concept of 'world citizenship', health professionals called for global rehabilitation initiatives to address the devastation after the war. The charm of world citizenship had not only provided theoretical grounds of international collaborative research into the psychopathology of psychiatric diseases, but also gave birth to the international psychiatric epidemiologic studies conducted by the World Health Organization. Themes explored in this paper include the global awareness of mental rehabilitation, the application of public health methods in psychiatry to improve mental health globally, the attempt by the WHO to conduct large-scale, cross-cultural studies relevant to mental health and the initial problems it faced., (© The Author(s) 2015.)
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Smallpox: 12,000 years from plagues to eradication: a dermatologic ailment shaping the face of society.
- Author
-
Simmons BJ, Falto-Aizpurua LA, Griffith RD, and Nouri K
- Subjects
- Asia epidemiology, Disease Eradication statistics & numerical data, Europe epidemiology, History, 15th Century, History, 16th Century, History, 17th Century, History, 18th Century, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, History, Ancient, History, Medieval, Humans, Smallpox prevention & control, United States epidemiology, World Health Organization history, Disease Eradication history, Disease Outbreaks history, Disease Outbreaks prevention & control, Smallpox epidemiology, Smallpox history, Smallpox Vaccine history
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Re-imagining the control of malaria in tropical Africa during the early years of the World Health Organization.
- Author
-
Litsios S
- Subjects
- Africa South of the Sahara, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Primary Health Care, Malaria history, Malaria prevention & control, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
This paper grew out of a meeting organized in September 2014 in London on 'Re-imagining malaria'. The focus of that meeting was on malaria today; only afterwards did the idea emerge that re-imagining the past might serve as a useful way for guiding present re-thinking. Sub-Saharan Africa is the logical place for such a re-examination for, as argued in this paper, the approaches that emerged following the collapse of the global eradication campaign were available to WHO in the 1950s, but these were not pursued as Africa was not encouraged to seek solutions outside those being advocated for eradication elsewhere.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. Obituary. Dr. Maths Berlin.
- Author
-
Barregrad L, Nordberg M, Fowler B, Nordberg G, and Clarkson TW
- Subjects
- Faculty, Medical history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Research history, Sweden, Textbooks as Topic history, United Kingdom, United States, Environmental Medicine history, Leadership, Mercury toxicity, Public Health history, Toxicology history, World Health Organization history
- Published
- 2015
48. Human population studies and the World Health Organization.
- Author
-
de Chadarevian S
- Subjects
- History, 20th Century, Humans, Infant, Newborn, International Cooperation history, Politics, Research, Genetics, Population history, Heredity, Population Groups genetics, Radiation Protection history, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
This essay draws attention to the role of the WHO in shaping research agendas in the biomedical sciences in the postwar era. It considers in particular the genetic studies of human populations that were pursued under the aegis of the WHO from the late 1950s to 1970s. The study provides insights into how human and medical genetics entered the agenda of the WHO. At the same time, the population studies become a focus for tracking changing notions of international relations, cooperation, and development and their impact on research in biology and medicine in the post-World War I era. After a brief discussion of the early history of the WHO and its position in Cold War politics, the essay considers the WHO program in radiation protection and heredity and how the genetic study of "vanishing" human populations and a world-wide genetic study of newborns fitted this broader agenda. It then considers in more detail the kind of support offered by the WHO for these projects. The essay highlights the role of single individuals in taking advantage of WHO support for pushing their research agendas while establishing a trend towards cooperative international projects in biology.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
49. Negotiating relationships of power in a maternal and child health centre: the experience of WHO nurse Margaret Campbell Jackson in Iran, 1954-1956.
- Author
-
Wytenbroek L
- Subjects
- Canada, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Iran, Male, Negotiating, Pregnancy, Child Health Services history, Child Health Services organization & administration, Leadership, Maternal Health Services organization & administration, Nursing Care organization & administration, World Health Organization history
- Abstract
From November 1954 to November 1956, Canadian nurse Margaret Campbell Jackson was employed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and was stationed in Tehran, Iran, where she participated in the establishment of a Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Centre. The objective of the project, known as Iran 10, was twofold: to set up a health service for mothers and children and to initiate a field training program for Iranian physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. Drawing on 180 letters Jackson wrote to her family in Canada from Iran, this article analyzes the MCH Centre as a contact zone and considers the relationships Jackson developed with staff affiliated with the project. The Centre became a space of cross-cultural encounters, where locally and foreign-trained Iranian staff and expatriates mingled and shared working relationships. I argue that authority was negotiated and contested through interactions and associations that were often unequal and framed by notions of progress, modernization, race, and health. Personality also played an important role.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Maltreatment of children.
- Author
-
Shulman ST
- Subjects
- Child, Child, Preschool, History, 21st Century, Humans, Micronesia, Philately, World Health Organization history, Child Abuse
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
Catalog
Discovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.