Page images
PDF
EPUB

ANNEX 10

Report of the Technical Preparatory Committee for the International Health

Conference

Statement by the Rapporteur

The Report which the Committee is asked to approve will be transmitted to States Members of the United Nations and to the Economic and Social Council in accordance with the terms of paragraph 4 of the Resolution adopted by the Economic and Social Council on February 15, 1946. The Report consists of the following sections:

1. Brief summary of the events leading up to the meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee.

2. Historical sketch on international cooperation in health matters. 3. Draft Proposals for the Constitution of the World Health Organization.

4. Resolutions adopted by the Committee.

5. An annotated draft agenda for the International Health Conference to be held in June 1946.

In presenting this Report, the Rapporteur commented briefly on each of the sections into which the Report had been divided.

It had seemed advisable to confine the summary of events leading up to the present meeting to the principal decisive facts rather than to attempt a complete chronological record.

The historical sketch had not been completed. This would include: (a) a brief description of the origin of international cooperation in health matters;

(b) a brief survey of Sanitary Conferences and of the earlier Sanitary Conventions;

(c) a brief account of "regional organizations", such as the Sanitary, Maritime and Quarantine Board of Egypt;

(d) a reference to international conventions on subjects related to health, such as causes of death, standardization of pharmacopoeia and the treatment of venereal diseases among sailors;

724741-47———8

103

(e) a description of the activities of the Office International d'Hygiène publique and the Pan American Sanitary Bureau; (f) an account of the Red Cross Organizations and of non-official international collaboration in health matters;

(g) a brief description of the movement for the establishment of a new international health organization at the end of the first World War; the Cannes Conference, the provisions of the League Covenant, the Assembly resolution of 1920, etc.: (h) a description of the activities of the League of Nations Health Organization, including a reference to the Singapore Bureau and the African Conferences as well as to the Agreement between the Office International d'Hygiène publique and the League Health Organization;

(i) a summary of the provisions of the Sanitary Conventions of 1926, 1933 and 1938; and

(j) a description of the health activities of UNRRA and of the 1944 Sanitary Conventions.

The short descriptions of the four organizations, the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, l'Office International d'Hygiène publique, the League of Nations Health Organization, and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, represented at this meeting were summaries of fuller descriptions, each of which would be approved by a representative of the organization concerned.1

With the concurrence of the Committee the Rapporteur requested the Secretariat to complete this section and to incorporate it in the Report or in the Supplement.

The Draft Proposals had been carefully reviewed by the Committee and required no further comment. This section, as well as other parts of the Report which the Committee was asked to approve, would be edited by the Secretariat before the Report was circulated to the Governments. It was, of course, understood that the entire Report would be translated into French and that copies in both languages would be communicated to each Government.

The Resolution relating to the League of Nations Health Organization included a tribute to this Organization, since it was about to be dissolved. It was not, however, considered appropriate to include a

1 The short descriptions of the four organizations represented at this meeting would be summaries of fuller descriptions, each of which had been approved by a representative of the organization concerned: the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, l'Office International d'Hygiène publique, the League of Nations Health Organization, and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. [This and all following footnotes are on the original texts.]

similar tribute to the Office International d'Hygiène publique and to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration since their activities would not be terminated immediately.

The Secretariat of the United Nations would compile the necessary documentation for the June Conference with a view to facilitating the work of the Conference in regard to the various items on the draft agenda.

Finally, the final texts of the Summary Records of the meetings of the Technical Preparatory Committee would be included in the Supplement to the Report and also forwarded to States Members of the United Nations and to the Members of the Economic and Social Council.

Events Leading Up to the Meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee

The steps leading up to the meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee for the International Health Conference were initiated at the United Nations Conference at San Francisco, when the word "health" was inserted in the Charter on the proposal of the Delegation of Brazil. Following this action, the States represented on Committee II/3 unanimously approved the following Declaration submitted jointly by the Delegations of Brazil and China on the calling of an international conference for the purpose of establishing an International Health Organization:

"The delegations of Brazil and China recommend that a General Conference be convened within the next few months for the purpose of establishing an international health organization.

"They intend to consult further with the representatives of other delegations with a view to the early convening of such a General Conference, to which each of the governments here represented will be invited to send representatives.

"They recommend that, in the preparation of a plan for the international health organization, full consideration should be given to the relation of such organization to, and methods of associating it with, other institutions, national as well as international, which already exist or which may hereafter be established in the field of health.

"They recommend that the proposed international health organization be brought into relationship with the Economic and Social Council."

Although the Governments of Brazil and China followed up the declaration by suggesting that a Conference be held before the end of

1945, the Resolution relating to this proposal was not adopted by the Economic and Social Council until February 15, 1946. In accordance with the terms of paragraph 3 of this Resolution the Economic and Social Council established the Technical Preparatory Committee and directed that it should meet in Paris not later than March 15, 1946 to prepare a draft annotated agenda and proposals for the consideration of the Conference to be held not later than June 20, 1946.

Proposals for the Constitution of the World
Health Organization

INTRODUCTION

This document represents the views of the Technical Preparatory Committee of Experts as to the general principles which should govern the Constitution of the World Health Organization. While it has not been couched in legal language, it is presented in a form which can readily be used as a basis for the drafting of the Constitution by the conference to be held in June 1946.

[blocks in formation]

The States parties to this World Convention recognize the following truths as basic to the harmonious relationships between all peoples of the world.

Health is a state of physical fitness and of mental and social wellbeing, not only the absence of infirmity and disease.

The right to health is one of the fundamental rights to which every human being is entitled, without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.

The fundamental freedoms can be obtained and maintained only when people are healthy, well-nourished, and protected against dis

ease.

Health is an essential factor in the attainment of security and wellbeing for individuals and States.

Satisfactory individual and collective emotional health is essential to the harmony of human relations.

Healthy development of the child toward world citizenship is of paramount importance.

The extension of the fullest benefits of medical, psychological, and related knowledge to all people is a necessary goal to be attained.

The experience of any State in the protection and promotion of Health is of value to all.

Unequal levels of development in different countries in matters concerning the promotion of health and control of communicable diseases constitute a common danger.

Informed opinion and active cooperation on the part of the public are of the utmost importance in the development of the health of the people.

Governments have a responsibility for the health of their peoples which can be secured only by the provision of adequate health services. Maximum efficiency of health services demands the cooperation and joint action of all States.

The Charter of the United Nations recognizes the need for the solution of international health problems in order to attain peaceful and friendly relations among nations.

Recognizing these truths, the parties to this World Convention, HEREBY ESTABLISH

the World Health Organization as a specialized agency through which States will cooperate for the protection and promotion of health throughout the world.

II. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of the World Health Organization are, through international collaboration and mutual assistance:

(a) to achieve the highest possible state of physical and mental health for all peoples;

(b) to prevent the occurrence and to control the spread of disease; (c) to stimulate the development and improvement of health serv

ices, both preventive and curative;

(d) to provide information, counsel, and assistance in the field of health and medical care;

(e) to achieve the highest possible level of education and knowledge in all subjects pertaining to health;

(f) to weld together for effective action the scientific and professional groups which contribute to the advancement of health; and

(g) to contribute to the harmony of human relations.

[blocks in formation]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims and objectives the World Health Organization should be the general directing and co

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »