World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the group concerned with health within the United Nations System. They deal with health issues from AIDS to Avian Influenza.

There are two major areas of their web site that might be of interest to those of you looking at world health issues. The first section is the Countries page. On this page all the members of the United Nations are listed and on each page is some basic statistics, including life expectancy. There are also links to any programs or outbreaks dealing with health.

The second section of interest is the Health Topics page. This page links to in-depth looks at health issues on a global scale. There is information in here on the topics you might expect such as AIDS and tuberculosis, but there is also links to information on topics you may not expect to find, such as Alcohol and Drinking water.

Finally, the World Health Organization produces a number of publications, many of which are freely available online. Today they released World Health Statistics 2007. This third edition includes a section with 10 highlights of global health statistics for the past year as well as an expanded set of 50 health statistics for all 193 UN member countries.

Want some more health information? Check out the library's guide.