Key Global Health Actors: WHO, CDC, MSF, and Beyond

Introduction to Global Health Actors

The global health landscape is characterized by a variety of prominent actors, each with distinct yet intertwined roles in promoting health, preventing disease, and managing health crises worldwide. The United Nations (UN) works toward international peace and security, fostering friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards, and human rights—which inherently includes health. Its specialized agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), is explicitly committed to promoting health, keeping the world safe, and serving vulnerable populations. It has led significant strides in disease eradication and prevention, including the eradication of smallpox and the near-eradication of polio, and has been a major actor in global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

National governmental health agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the UK's Public Health England (PHE) work to safeguard their respective nations' health by preventing and managing disease outbreaks and health emergencies and promoting healthier lifestyles. Nongovernmental health organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also play essential roles. These organizations can often fill gaps not covered by governmental bodies, offering vital healthcare services in crises, promoting healthcare research, and aiming to eliminate specific diseases globally.

The DNP Essentials illustrate the importance of understanding and working within the global health environment. Essential II, "Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement and Systems Thinking," is especially pertinent, as these organizations must continually strive for better health outcomes and navigate complex health systems. Essential VI, "Interprofessional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes," is also highly relevant, as these actors must collaborate across disciplines and sectors to tackle global health challenges. Essential VIII, "Advanced Nursing Practice," emphasizes the role of advanced practice nurses in these contexts, using their skills to promote health and wellness at both individual and population levels.

The United Nations (UN)

Founded in 1945 following the end of World War II, the United Nations was established with the primary goal of maintaining international peace and security (Thakur, 2016). War had caused much of the world to suffer deeply, and the UN's aim was to prevent any such catastrophe from occurring again. It also sought to serve as a governing body through which friendly relations among nations could be fostered. Numerous UN conventions established rules by which member nations were expected to govern themselves. Additional goals included the promotion of social progress, better living standards, and human rights.

Over its history, the UN has accomplished a number of important objectives. One of its central goals was to end colonization, and to date it has successfully helped more than 80 colonies gain independence. It created a framework for responding to global crises and conflicts—the UN Peacekeeping Forces were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988—launched the Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty and protect the planet, and coordinated humanitarian aid during crises and disasters worldwide (Harff, 2018).

Over its nearly eight-decade history, the United Nations has been involved in over 70 peacekeeping missions worldwide, helping manage or end conflicts and facilitating post-conflict reconstruction. One of its landmark achievements is the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. This document laid the foundation for fundamental human rights that ought to be universally protected.

The World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization was established on April 7, 1948, as a specialized agency of the United Nations, with the primary goal of promoting health and serving vulnerable populations. The WHO directs and coordinates authority on health within the UN system, aiming to lead partners in global health responses.

One of the WHO's major early accomplishments was the eradication of smallpox. Smallpox was an infectious disease with a significant mortality rate that caused severe illness in survivors. The eradication campaign ran from 1967 to 1980, with the WHO declaring smallpox eradicated on May 8, 1980—marking the first disease ever eliminated through coordinated human effort. The WHO has also been instrumental in the near-eradication of polio. Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. The WHO launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, and since then the incidence of polio has decreased by over 99%. Only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, continue to experience wild poliovirus transmission.

The organization has also made substantial strides in controlling other communicable diseases. It launched the "3 by 5" initiative in 2003, which aimed to provide three million people living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries with antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005 (Van Damme et al., 2006). It has led the battle against Ebola through its Health Emergencies Programme, working with countries to strengthen their capacity to prevent and respond to outbreaks. The WHO has also been pivotal in the fight against malaria, a life-threatening disease transmitted through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, providing a wide range of tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat the disease and contributing to significant reductions in malaria cases and deaths. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO played a crucial role in coordinating the global response, providing timely information and guidelines, supporting research efforts, and working to ensure equitable access to diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.