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| Dr Thomas Parran, Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service, and Dr Martha M. Eliot, Associate Director of the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, during the 1946 International Health Conference in New York, where the WHO Constitution was finalized and signed. Credit: © WHO. |
Title: 80 years strong: the WHO Constitution
Author: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Publication: World Health Organization
Date: 24 July 2026
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Summary:
The commentary marks the 80th anniversary of the WHO Constitution and says it was founded on the idea that health is essential to peace, security, and human rights. It highlights the international collaboration behind the Constitution, naming several figures from different countries who helped shape its drafting and adoption. It argues that the WHO Constitution remains relevant because countries still need a place to cooperate on health challenges they cannot solve alone.
Quotes:
“health is key to peace and security, and that health is a human right.”
“The Constitution remains our compass.”
“health is a fundamental human right."
“The Constitution remains our compass.”
“health is a fundamental human right."
ReplyDeleteAs UNICEF celebrates its 80th anniversary, one question should get more prominence. What have the poor parts of the world received in return for a quarter of a trillion dollars spent in today's money? The calculation is straightforward. Add up every dollar UNICEF has spent since 1946, adjust each year's expenditure for US inflation, and compare the total with measurable, lasting results.
UNICEF deserves recognition for helping make childhood vaccination one of the world's most cost-effective public health interventions. Millions of children's lives have been saved. But survival is not the same as development.
A child who survives only to grow up in poverty, with poor education and limited opportunities, has been given a chance at life, but not a way out of poverty. After eighty years, that question matters.
Countries such as Tanzania have made progress in reducing infant and child mortality and extending life expectancy, yet they remain very poor, in some cases relatively poorer than they were 80 years ago. Development depends on more than keeping children alive. It requires sustained economic growth, capable institutions and good governance.
No one should, of course, expect UNICEF to achieve these things on its own. But after eight decades and a quarter of a trillion dollars spent, it is reasonable to ask what lasting improvements can be attributed to its work.
Anniversaries should not be exercises in self-congratulation. They should be moments of honest evaluation. The true measure of UNICEF's success is not only how many lives it saved, but how much lasting human development it helped create.