World Health Organisation (WHO) is an international organisation founded after the Second World War with the aim of developing cooperation among countries of the world. Its budget is provided by members dues along with donations. Its constitution which has been endorsed by parliaments of all member countries accepts health as a social right and health services as a public service, highlighting the social and economic determinants of health. However, the Organisation has been object to political influences since its inception and especially the USA has tried to use it for her own interests. Dominant political trends have influenced policies of WHO. For example, WHO had started Primary Health Care Program in 1970s, when many newly independent states existed, when Third World countries like India and Yugoslavia were effective and when Soviet Union was powerful, with the slogan of Health for all which prioritised equality, participation,, prevention, socio- economic factors in health. Globalization and neo-liberal economic policies which have dominated the world have also changed the values and principles of WHO; a deterioration was experienced: from an approach of public services and health as a a social right, to one of privatisation and market forces. This new WHO has ignored the unfavourable health consequences of economic structural adjustment programs forced on poor nations and the distruction of civilians during the Iraq and Afganistan wars. A favorable change in WHO policies depend upon the regaining of economic and political independence of poor nations and their influence in international organisations.
Key words: Human Rights, World Health Organisation, Globalisation Article Language: Turkish English
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