Whither the World Health Organization?

square The outgoing Director-General of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, has successfully returned health issues to the international arena. square The new Director-General will have to cope with reduced control over funding, debate over WHO's mandate, And the relationships between WHO and other organisations. square Despite the broad role described in WHO's constitution, many groups see WHO's mandate as narrowly directed at disease eradication. square The methods of choice for funding health programs has become public-private partnerships. These have the advantages of bringing private money, management expertise and research knowledge to bear on health, problems, but rarely consider the health system as a whole, focusing instead on specific diseases. This has the potential to distort resource allocation and priorities. square The international community needs to work to strengthen WHO and maintain its broad mandate to achieve the highest possible level of health for all people.