Public health milestones through the years (original) (raw)
Since the foundation of the World Health Organization in 1948, the world has experienced public health challenges that have required us all to come together with science, solutions and solidarity. This timeline, published in 2023 on the occasion of WHO’s 75th anniversary, serves as a reminder of some of the most memorable successes and how these have contributed to improved health across the world. These milestone achievements also provide inspiration for us to face the health challenges of the future.
1945
Diplomats meeting in San Francisco, California to form the United Nations agree that throughout modern history, there has been insufficient collaboration between countries to control the spread of dangerous diseases across the world. Together they decide on the need for a global organization overseeing global health. They plan for the creation of WHO.
UN
1946
WHO's Constitution is drafted and then approved at the International Health Conference in New York City.
WHO/UN
1947
WHO establishes the first-ever global disease-tracking service, with information transmitted via telex.
WHO/D. Henrioud
1948
WHO's Constitution comes into force on 7 April ̶ a date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day. Following the mandate established by Member States, WHO begins its first two decades with a strong focus on mass campaigns against tuberculosis, malaria, yaws, syphilis, smallpox and leprosy.
WHO
1948
The World Health Assembly adopts the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), version 6, with WHO as its custodian. The ICD was preceded by the International List of Causes of Death, the first version of which dates back to 1893. Over time, the ICD has progressed from a rudimentary list of causes of death used by 20 countries into a digital database of health data used globally. Using the ICD guarantees that health information can be gathered, documented, and analyzed across countries, enabling more precise identification of public health trends, better use of resources and better health.
International Classification of Diseases
© WHO/Kiana Hayeri
1950
The great era of discovery of antibiotics takes off, following the discovery of penicillin in 1928 and its first clinical use in 1941. In the 1950s, WHO began advising countries on antibiotic production and on widening access and responsible use.
WHO’s guidance on appropriate use of essential antibiotics includes:
WHO/E. Schwab
1952
Jonas Salk develops the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (given by injection), paving the way for mass global campaigns facilitated by countries, WHO and other partners that have led to the near-eradication of polio.
1961
Albert Sabin develops the attenuated live-virus vaccine (given orally), paving the way for mass global campaigns facilitated by countries, WHO and other partners that have led to the near-eradication of polio.
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WHO
1969
The World Health Assembly establishes the first International Health Regulations, which represent an agreement between WHO Member States to work together to prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide.
Questions and answers on the International Health Regulations
WHO/M. Taylor
1972
The Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) is created at WHO. It is the sole body within the UN system with a global mandate to carry out research into sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Sexual and reproductive health and research
WHO/J. Littlewood
1975
WHO establishes and begins hosting the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), which is co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank. As a global programme of scientific collaboration, TDR provides tools to tackle neglected diseases and to increase the capacity for research in disease-endemic countries. TDR has made a significant contribution to elimination efforts for river blindness and leishmaniasis. By 2016, five of the eight diseases that the Programme was created to support research on are close to elimination.
TDR: For research on diseases of poverty
1977
The first Essential Medicines List is published. This list outlines the medicines that a basic health system needs. Each medicine is selected based on evidence for its safety, effectiveness and value for money.
WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines
WHO/D. Gibson
1978
The International Conference on Primary Health Care, in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, sets the aspirational goal, "Health for All", laying the groundwork for WHO's call for universal health coverage.
1978
WHO launches the global diarrhoeal diseases programme with Oral rehydration salts (ORS) at its heart. By 2019, the 4·6 million annual deaths from diarrhoea in children younger than 5 years estimated in 1980 had fallen to just under 365 000 deaths, despite a 70% increase in the world's population. Although several factors contributed to this reduction, as of 2007 it was estimated that oral rehydration therapy (ORT) alone had prevented 54 million diarrhoeal deaths. In addition, ORT helped reduce the nutritional impact of diarrhoea. However, as of 2022, ORT remained underused in some critically-affected countries. Programmes to promote its use should be funded to halt deaths from cholera and other acute watery diarrhoeal diseases. ORT is also underused in high-income countries, and should be promoted to reduce costs.
WHO/T. Pietrasik
1981
Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to improve child health and survival. But it can be seriously undermined by lobbying and marketing from the formula milk industry. To address industry practices that were dissuading mothers from breastfeeding, the WHO Member States endorsed the International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981. The Code laid out rules on the marketing of baby formula ̶ covering advertising, educational materials, store promotions, product labels, and relationships with health workers. By 2022, 75% of countries had adopted legal measures to implement at least some of the provisions in the Code. Since the Code was adopted, the percentage of babies who are exclusively breastfed has gone up by 50%.
WHO
1983
The Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, is discovered. In 1987, the first antiretroviral medication to control HIV infection and prevent it from progressing to AIDS is licensed, prompting a shift in WHOs priorities.
1988
Countries of the world come together to call for the eradication of polio at the World Health Assembly at a time when the disease was paralysing more than 350 000 children every year in more than 125 endemic countries. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), is launched. Since then, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99%. In 2022 only two countries remained endemic to wild poliovirus. Twenty million cases of polio have been averted and more than 1.5 million childhood deaths prevented.
WHO/I. Ahmed
1994
At the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt, countries agree to the adoption of a comprehensive definition of reproductive health and a recognition of reproductive rights. This definition was fully supported by WHO. Also agreed at this seminal Conference was the 20-year Programme of Action which focused on individuals' needs and rights, including reproductive rights, rather than on achieving demographic targets. Advancing gender equality, eliminating violence against women and ensuring the ability of women to control their own fertility were acknowledged as cornerstones of population and development policies.
WHO position paper on ICPD 1994
WHO/P. Wiggers
1995
The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy was launched by WHO and UNICEF to promote health and provide preventive and curative services for children under five in countries with more than 40 deaths per 1000 live births. Over the past quarter of a century, child mortality has more than halved, dropping from 93 to 38 deaths per 1000 live births between 1990 and 2021. Yet in 2021 an estimated 5 million children still died before reaching their fifth birthday, most from conditions that are readily preventable or treatable with proven, cost-effective interventions. By 2016, more than 100 countries were implementing the strategy, contributing to reductions in global child mortality by an estimated 15%.
WHO's Child Health and Development Unit
WHO/I. Taxta
1998
WHO played a pioneering role in emergency contraception by confirming the effectiveness of levonorgestrel, which resulted in changes in regulations in countries of differing income levels and its inclusion in the list of essential medicines. Since 1998 these pills have been licensed in more than 100 countries.
Emergency contraception : a guide for service delivery
WHO/H. Anenden
1999
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (now Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance) is established. The Alliance consists of major players in global immunization, including WHO, other key UN agencies, leaders of the vaccine industry, government representatives and major foundations. Its role is to overcome barriers preventing millions of children from receiving vaccines.
WHO/Panos/E. Martino
2000
At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopts the UN Millennium Declaration, committing nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015. They become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and include specific goals for health.
2000
The WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) is established to detect and combat the international spread of outbreaks.
2001
The Twenty-sixth special session of the United Nations General Assembly adopts the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS as a matter of urgency to address the HIV/AIDS crisis worldwide as well as to secure a global commitment to enhancing coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat it in a comprehensive manner.
2001
The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a new partnership and funding mechanism initially hosted by WHO, is created in collaboration with other UN agencies and major donors.
2003
The World Health Assembly unanimously adopts WHO's first global public health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which aims to reduce tobacco-related deaths and disease worldwide.
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
2004
The UN Road Safety Collaboration is established. WHO and the World Bank launch the first ever world report on road traffic injury prevention.
2004
WHO's Strategic Health Operations Centre is used for the first time to coordinate emergency response support following the Indian Ocean tsunami. The Centre is the nerve centre of global alert and response for health emergencies.
2005
The International Health Regulations are revised, giving countries clear and tested guidelines for reporting disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies to WHO, and triggering response systems to isolate and contain threats.
International Health Regulations
WHO/P. Phutpheng
2006
The number of children who die before their fifth birthday declines below 10 million for the first time in recent history.
WHO/TDR/A. Craggs
2006
WHO Child Growth Standards are launched to help every child grow in an equitable way. These are unique tools that define malnutrition in children under 5 years of age. Central for monitoring child malnutrition globally, they are used by governments to establish their nutrition targets, and by data experts for calculating malnutrition estimates at national, regional and global levels. They are also used for child growth monitoring in most countries.
World Health Organization releases new Child Growth Standards
WHO/Blink Media - Tali Kimelman
2008
Heart disease and stroke emerge as the world's number one killers ̶ indicating a global shift from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases, noted the World Health Statistics report.
WHO/Blink Media - Neil Nuia
2009
The world braces itself for the first influenza pandemic since 1968 with the emergence of the new H1N1 influenza virus. WHO works with collaborating centres and pharmaceutical industries to develop influenza vaccines in record time.
2010
WHO issues a menu of options for raising sufficient resources and removing financial barriers so that all people, especially those with limited resources to spend on health care, have access to essential health services.
WHO/Y. Shimizu
2010
The first rapid molecular test for the detection of TB is established after decades of using only sputum-smear microscopy. Sputum-smear microscopy had poor specificity and reliability. The new tests help diagnose TB more accurately and identify drug resistance earlier.
© منظمة الصحة العالمية/شاهندة أبو زياد
2012
For the first time, WHO Member States set global targets to prevent and control heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease and other diseases.
WHO/E.R. Mbabazi
2013
The first global Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan is endorsed. More than 100 countries have used the Mental Health GAP Action Programme (mhGAP) for the integration of mental health at primary health care level since that time.
Comprehensive Mental Heath Action Plan 2013-2030
2014
The Every Newborn Action Plan is endorsed by the World Health Assembly. The Plan presents evidence-based solutions to prevent newborn deaths and stillbirths. It sets out a clear path with specific global and national milestones to achieve the SDG targets of at least as low as 12 newborn deaths or less per 1000 live births and as low as 12 or less stillbirths per 1000 total births.
2014
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa 2014-2016 was the largest since the virus was first discovered in 1976. It started in Guinea then quickly spread to neighbouring countries ̶ Liberia and Sierra Leone. In August 2014, WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Over the course of the epidemic, the disease spread to 7 additional countries ̶ Italy, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The WHO Secretariat activated an unprecedented response to the outbreak: deploying thousands of technical experts and support staff and medical equipment; mobilizing foreign medical teams; and coordinating the creation of mobile laboratories and treatment centres.
WHO/R. Holden
2015
HIV treatment coverage expanded rapidly with well over 17 million people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy by the end of 2015.
WHO/A. Graggs
2015
The WHO European Region becomes the first Region in the world to achieve the interruption of indigenous malaria transmission.
WHO/P. Palmer
2015
The first ever child-friendly formulations of anti-TB medicines, which are water-dispersible tablets, are introduced. They offer the opportunity to simplify and improve treatment for children around the world with the goals of enhancing adherence to and completion of treatment and preventing the development of drug resistance.
2015
In 2015, all United Nations Member States adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It sets out 17 Goals, which include 169 targets. These wide-ranging and ambitious goals interconnect. Goal 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
The Sustainable Development Goals
WHO/NOOR/Arko Datto
2016
The UN General Assembly adopts a political declaration on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and calls for the establishment of an ad-hoc inter-agency coordination group on antimicrobial resistance to provide practical guidance to ensure global action against AMR.
2016
Nigeria, long considered the global epicentre of poliovirus, reports its last wild poliovirus, paving the way for certifying the African Region free of such strains. In 2023, five of the six WHO Regions have been certified free of wild poliovirus and two of the three wild poliovirus strains have been globally eradicated.
WHO/TDR/M. Edwards
2016
The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents' Health (2016-30) is launched. Coordinated by WHO and developed with partners, the Strategy provides a roadmap for action. Through its objectives of Survive, Thrive and Transform, the Strategy is a catalyst for investment to promote and protect health and support well-being.
The Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health (2016-2030)
WHO/Blink Media - Daiana Valencia
WHO/A. Jallanzo
2016
WHO declares that the recent association of Zika infection with clusters of microcephaly and other neurological disorders constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Zika virus disease ourbreak 2015-2016
2017
WHO publishes its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant "priority pathogens" – a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. The list was drawn up in a bid to guide and promote research and development of new antibiotics, as part of WHO’s efforts to address growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines.
WHO publishes list of bacteria for which new antibiotics are urgently needed
2017
The Partnership for Healthy Cities is launched. It includes 70 cities of over 300 million inhabitants in total. The Partnership aims to put in place policies and programmes to prevent road traffic injuries and diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease.
Partnership for Healthy Cities
WHO/V. Gupta-Smith
2020
The WHO Director-General declares the global outbreak of novel coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). A PHEIC is defined in the International Health Regulations (2005) as, “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response”.
WHO Director-General's statement on IHR Emergency Committee on Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
WHO / Christopher Black
2020
The UN Statistical Commission approves a new SDG indicator on blood stream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms. WHO is the custodian for this indicator, with data provided through WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System.
Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS)
WHO/S. Pabst
2020
The first oral regimen for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is established. For decades, the cornerstone of treatment for TB had been the administration of painful injectable agents, which are now replaced by 2-3 times shorter, fully oral, more effective treatments with the new drugs.
WHO/C. McNab
2020
The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) partnership is launched by the WHO Director-General, the European Commission, the President of France and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The ACT-Accelerator is a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator
2021
At the end of December 2021, 28.7 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy, up from 7.8 million in 2010. This meant that 75% of all people living with HIV were accessing treatment.
2021
WHO recommends a ground-breaking malaria vaccine for children living in areas of moderate to high malaria transmission. The long-awaited malaria vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control. It is the first vaccine against a parasite and could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.
WHO recommends groundbreaking malaria vaccine for children at risk
2021
More than 74 million lives had been saved through tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment since 2000.
2022
Four international agencies - the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, the UN Environment Programme and WHO, sign a ground-breaking agreement to strengthen cooperation to sustainably balance and optimize the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment. The Quadripartite MoU provides a legal framework to tackle the human, animal, plant and ecosystem challenges by using a more integrated and coordinated approach. This framework reinforces national and regional health systems and services, and contributes to global health security.
UN Environment Programme joins alliance to implement One Health approach
WHO/M. Duff
2022
With co-authors USAID and Johns Hopkins University, WHO releases the 4th edition of “Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers”. The Handbook provides clinic-based health professionals with the latest guidance on providing contraceptive methods. Since its first edition in 2007, almost a million copies have been distributed around the world.
2023
WHO’s 75th anniversary year is an opportunity to look back at public health successes that have improved quality of life during the last seven decades - and to look forward to motivate action to tackle the health challenges of today and tomorrow.
