WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Until the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) coordinated worldwide efforts such as smallpox eradication with a limited set of partners; it also provided for international reporting and handling of disease outbreaks through the International Health Regulations (IHR). International health governance — also referred to as “the multilateral health regime” and “horizontal germ governance” — was relatively simple, with a small cast of actors and clearer lines of responsibility. The rise of non-state actors and major global health initiatives driven by public-private partnerships, foundations, G8, and other non-UN/WHO entities has modified the role of WHO and health-related UN organizations in GHG. Concerns with WHO ineffectiveness and inefficiency has arguably spurred engagement of non-state actors. For all of WHO’s limitations, the global health community continues to look to it as the leading global health governor, in the absence of a real alternative.
