Congress report - European Health Forum Gastein

Plenary Session I + II
Plenary Session I + II
The Work of WHO in Championing Health in Development
David B. Evans
Abstract
WHO’s constitution has one very simple objective - the attainment by all peoples of the
highest possible level of health. Health was defined as a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Of the 21 functions
designated for WHO, one was to assist in developing an informed public opinion among all
peoples on matters of health. In response to this mandate, the Organization has always
sought to provide information and evidence on how health is more than the absence of
disease, how it is an essential component of development, and how best to improve health
systems to attain the highest levels of health.
In the last few years the Organization has been particularly active in championing the role of
health in development. This has included creating a Department on Health and
Development, with a focus on health and poverty and health and globalisation. It has
worked with the WTO, for example, to examine the impact of trade liberalisation policies on
health. It includes the activities of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, where
one of its primary roles was to provide the best available evidence on the links between
health and economic growth. Partly on the basis of these activities, the Organization has
strongly advocated increasing the resources devoted to health and has been an active
partner in the establishment of the Global Fund on Aids and Health.
Understanding the role of health in development, and advocacy for health action is only one
part of the process. The next step is to develop evidence on the best available ways of
using health resources, both in terms of the organisation and activities of the health system
and the types of interventions that it supports. WHO also has extensive activities designed
to provide evidence of what types of health system structures and activities work, and which
ones do not. It provides evidence on what type of interventions, or groups of interventions,
most improve population health for the resources available, and works closely with countries
that request it, to find ways of improving the levels of health for the available resources.
Speech not available
Presentation slides are available for download at the EHFG web-site
http://www.ehfg.org/website01/abstracts.htm
International Forum Gastein, Tauernplatz 1, A-5630 Bad Hofgastein
Tel.: +43 (6432) 7110-70, Fax: Ext. 71, e-mail: info@ehfg.org, website: www.ehfg.org
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