2. | Read the text and be ready to speak on the following issues.

• Constitution and history of the WHO

• WHO activity

• Structure and members of the WHO

• WHO Assembly

• Financing

WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the original agencies of the United Nations, that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health, its constitution formally coming into force on the first World Health Day (April 7, 1948), when it was rati­fied by the 26^th member state. Jawarharlal Nehru, a major freedom fighter of India, had given an opinion to start WHO. Headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WHO’s constitution states that its objective “is the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health”. Its major task is to combat disease, especially key infectious diseases, and to promote the general health of the people of the world.

Apart from coordinating international efforts to control outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as SARS, malaria, tuberculosis, swine flu, and AIDS the WHO also sponsors programs to prevent and treat such diseases. The WHO supports the development and distribution of safe and effective vaccines, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and drugs. After over two decades of fighting smallpox, the WHO declared in 1980 that the disease had been eradicated — the first disease in history to be eliminated by human effort. The WHO aims to eradicate polio within the next few years.

In addition to its work in eradicating disease, the WHO also car­ries out various health-related campaigns — for example, to boost the consumption of fruits and vegetables worldwide and to discourage tobacco use. Experts met at the WHO headquarters in Geneva in Feb­ruary, 2007, and reported that their work on pandemic influenza vac­cine development had achieved encouraging progress. More than 40 clinical trials have been completed or are ongoing. Most have focused on healthy adults. Some companies, after completing safety analysis in adults, have initiated clinical trials in the elderly and in children. All vaccines so far appear to be safe and well-tolerated in all age groups tested.

The WHO also conducts health research in communicable dis­eases, non-communicable conditions and injuries; for example, longi­tudinal studies on aging to determine if the additional years we live are in good or poor health, and whether the electromagnetic field sur­rounding cell phones has an impact on health.

The production and dissemination of health statistics for health action at country, regional and global levels is a core WHO activity mandated to WHO by its Member States in its Constitution.

Members of the WHO are 191 of the UN members, the Cook Islands and Niue. Non-state territories of UN Member States may join as Associate Members (with full information but limited partici­pation and voting rights) if approved by an Assembly vote: Puerto Rico and Tokelau are Associate Members. The following states and entities were granted observer status: Palestine, Holy See, Order of Malta and Chinese Taipei. Non-members of the WHO are Liechten­stein and the rest of states with limited recognition.

WHO Member States appoint delegations to the World Health Assembly, WHO’s supreme decision-making body. All UN member states are eligible for WHO membership, and, according to the WHO web site, “Other countries may be admitted as members when their application has been approved by a simple majority vote of the World Health Assembly.”

The WHO Assembly generally meets in May each year. In addi­tion to appointing the Director-General every five years, the Assembly considers the financial policies of the Organization and reviews and approves the proposed programme budget. The Assembly elects 34 members, technically qualified in the field of health, to the Executive Board for three-year terms. The main functions of the Board are to carry out the decisions and policies of the Assembly, to advise it and to facilitate its work in general.

The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and from donors, among which there is pharmaceutical industry, as well as other foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Unit 12 HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN THE USA

lj Learn the following words.

operate	[opareit]	залучати, використовувати
coverage	[kAvsrid^]	покриття витрат
per capita	[pa kæpita]	на душу населення
gross national product	[,graus næjnal 'prodAkt]	валовий національний продукт
sophisticated	[sa'fistikeitid]	складний
expenditure	[ik'spenditja]	ви користан н я, витрач а н н я
capability	[,keipa'bihti]	спроможність, здатність
disability	[,disa'biliti]	недієздатність, непрацездатність
executive	[ig'zekjutiv]	виконавчий орган, влада
premature	[,prema'tjua]	передчасний
hazardous	[hæzadas]	небезпечний, ризикований
emerge	[i'ma:d3]	виникати, випливати, з’являтися
confront	[kan'frAnt|	стикатися з; стояти навпроти; протистояти
shift	[Jiftl	міняти; змінювати; переміщувати
housing	( hauziri]	забезпечення житлом; житлове будівництво
vulnerable	['уліпзгзЬІ]	уразливий
liberate	['libareitl	вивільняти

J 2 jMatch the following terms with their definitions.

1 expenditure	a a government organization responsible for a certain area of administration
2 challenge	b a board that has a specified area of responsibility, such as finance or production

3 sophisti­cated	c a monthly payment made to someone who is retired from work (syn.: old-age pension)
4 minorities	d organizations which ensure public safety and health by addressing different unexpected occasions
5 dependent children	e people whose style of life, language, culture and origin differ from the majority
6 retirement benefit	f spending of money on something or the money that is spent on something
7 agency	g kids who don’t have parents or their parents are not able to take care of them
8 executive committee	h something new and difficult which requires great ef­forts and determination
9 emergency services	i more advanced or complex than others, more intel­ligent and informed than others (methods, device, ma­chine, etc.)