ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the objectives and strategy of World Health Organisation (WHO) in view of financial constraints and donor countries' demands; WHO's stated goal of integrated primary health care; staff morale; and the growing dislocation between the regions and headquarters. WHO's representatives in recipient countries are stationed inside ministries of health, which limits their influence, especially since health is traditionally one of the government departments with the lowest status. WHO's structural flaws have become increasingly evident since the change of leadership in 1988. Media attention has been focused on the leadership of the WHO, rather than on the real factors that limit WHO's effectiveness. These factors relate to the organisation's structure and to its current priorities, methods, and management. WHO does not, except with rare exceptions, intervene directly in health care provision or disease prevention—a strategy designed to avoid charges of imperialism and ensure that developments arc sustainable in long-term.
