The Best World Health Organization Books of All Time

In 1988, the World Health Organization launched a twelve-year campaign to wipe out polio. Thirty years and several billion dollars over budget later, the campaign grinds on, vaccinating millions of children and hoping that each new year might see an end to the disease. But success remains elusive, against a surprisingly resilient virus, an unexpectedly weak vaccine and the vagaries of global politics, meeting with indifference from governments and populations alike. How did an innocuous campaign to rid the world of a crippling disease become a hostage of geopolitics? Why do parents refuse to vaccinate their children against polio?

And why have poorly paid door-to-door healthworkers been assassinated? Thomas Abraham reports on the ground in search of answers.

According to its Constitution, the mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) was nothing less than the 'attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health' without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic status, or social condition. But how consistently and how well has the WHO pursued this mission since 1946? This comprehensive and engaging new history explores these questions by looking at its origins and its institutional antecedents, while also considering its contemporary and future roles.

It examines how the WHO was shaped by the particular environments of the postwar period and the Cold War, the relative influence of the US and other approaches to healthcare, and its place alongside sometimes competing international bodies such as UNICEF, the World Bank, and the Gates Foundation. The authors re-evaluate the relative success and failure of critical WHO campaigns, from early malaria and smallpox eradication programs to struggles with Ebola today.

Following the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, attention has focused on ways to remove barriers to the participation of people with disabilities in their societies. Now a new publication, the first ever World Report on Disabilities, produced joinly by the WHO and the World Bank, reviews evidence about the situation of disabled people, and offers directions for policy and practice, which can help overcome exclusion.The report contains chapters on health, rehabilitation, assistance and support, enabling environments, education, and employment.

The voices of people with disabilities open each chapter, setting the scene for what follows. Within the chapters, case studies show how many countries have succeeded in promoting good practices. The diverse challenges faced in low, middle and high income settings are differentiated wherever possible.Importantly, the report also includes the first new disability prevalence estimates since the 1970s. Global trends such as the ageing population, and the increasing importance of chronic diseases, mean that the prevalence of disability is likely to rise in the future. The report makes the case for better data collection, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Overall, there are major evidence gaps in the disability field, and the report argues that more research and disaggregated data are needed to show what works to improve the lives of persons with disabilities.This pioneering report shows how removing barriers to mainstream services and investing in rehabilitation, support services and more accessible environments can ensure that millions of people with disabilities can participate in education, employment and wider society. At the intersection of public health, human rights and development, the World Report on Disabilities will be required reading for policy-makers, professionals, and advocates for people with disabilities and their families.