A Health Assembly that appoints the Director-General and a Board of 34 members: how the World Health Organization is governed

Background

The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States.
Its main functions are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.
The Executive Board is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms.
The annual Board meeting agrees the agenda for the World Health Assembly and the resolutions to be considered by it.
Its Constitution was adopted by the International Health Conference held in New York in 1946 and entered into force on 7 April 1948.
The Organization is headed by the Director-General, who is appointed by the Health Assembly on the nomination of the Executive Board, and who is WHO's chief technical and administrative officer overseeing the policy for the Organization's international health work.
WHO also has six Regional Committees, for Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific.