The World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution came into force on April 7, 1948, and China has been a Member since the beginning.
The WHO China office has increased its scope of activities significantly in recent years, especially following the major SARS outbreak of 2003. The role of WHO China is to provide support for the government's health programmes, working closely with the Ministry of Health and other partners within the government, as well as with UN agencies and other organizations.
For China's government, health is firmly on the agenda, with strong political commitment at the highest level to strengthening public health in the world's most populous nation. The current Five Year Plan incorporates public health in a significant way. The government has acknowledged that even as millions upon millions of citizens are prospering amid the country's economic boom, millions of others are lagging behind, with health care a commodity that many cannot afford. The challenge China faces is to strengthen its health care system across the spectrum, to reduce the disparities and create a more equitable situation regarding access to health care services for the population at large.
At the same time, in an ever-interconnected world, China has embraced its responsibility to global public health, including the strengthening of surveillance systems aimed at swiftly identifying and tackling the threat of infectious diseases such as SARS and avian influenza. Another major challenge is the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, the handling of which is a key priority for China.
The staff of the WHO Office in China are working with their national counterparts in the following areas:
In addition, WHO technical experts in specialty areas can be made available on a short-term basis, when requested by the government.
China is an active, contributing member of WHO, and has made valuable contributions to global and regional health policy. Technical experts from China have contributed to WHO through their membership on various WHO technical expert advisory committees and groups.
WHO China looks forward to supporting the government over the years to come.