World Health Organisation
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialist agency of the United Nations. It aims to increase international co-operation in the field of public health, working towards ‘the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health’. The WHO is particularly focused on fighting diseases, controlling epidemics and improving all-round health care.
Historically, the WHO has worked on malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. In recent years the WHO has been concerned with antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’, bird-flu outbreaks and fighting the ebola virus in West Africa in 2013–15. Successes have included the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s, and the removal of the scourge of polio from all but two countries. Child and maternal mortality have also been significantly reduced. However, the WHO has been criticised for its inadequate response to the ebola epidemic.
September 2024 , the World Health Organisation announced that Sudan is facing severe starvation. Famine has been reported in some of the most affected areas, including the western region of Darfur. Among Sudan's 47 million people, 12 million are displaced within the country, 2 million have fled to other countries, up to 150,000 have lost their lives, and nearly 25 million people—almost half the population—need urgent help. Since the civil war started in 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces, led by Hemedti, and the military government, led by al-Burhan, Sudan has lacked a stable government and cannot provide its citizens with basic needs. This situation calls for more support from international organisations such as the UN, and it is likely that the challenges will extend into neighbouring countries. Currently, over 500,000 Sudanese refugees have sought safety in South Sudan, Egypt, and Chad.