مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND ITS NORMATIVE FUNCTION

Abstract :

The origin of international cooperation on public health is based on the purpose of preventing the spread of epidemics such as cholera and plague in the Western Europe in 19th century with minimum interference to international trade and traffic. To achieve this goal, especially European states convened international health conferences, made conventions related to international health matters and established international health organizations for administering these conventions. The World Health Organization (WHO) was established to act as the directing and co-ordinating authority on international health work after the Second World War and was granted normative powers to set standards related to public health. The ultimate purpose of this study is examining normative functions of the WHO in the light of both evolution in international public health cooperation and related articles of the WHO Constitution and practice. To this aim, normative instruments adopted by the World Health Assembly are analyzed with various examples. The conclusion is that the Assembly not only adopts recommendations as flexible instruments in setting health-related standards but also adopts legally binding conventions or regulations when it deems necessary.