What are the priorities and work of the World Health Organization?
The role and priorities of the World Health Organization in promoting health and wellbeing globally, including its current priorities
VCE HHD Unit 4 AoS 2 guide to the role, priorities and work of the World Health Organization in promoting health and wellbeing globally.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
This dot point asks you to describe the role of the World Health Organization (WHO), explain its current priorities, and give examples of its work. You should know what the WHO does, how it differs from an aid agency, and how its priorities link to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 3. Questions often ask you to explain how WHO work promotes health and wellbeing globally.
The role of the WHO
The WHO is the specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. Its role is to direct and coordinate health within the United Nations system. Rather than mainly delivering aid, the WHO sets standards, provides leadership and technical advice, monitors health, and coordinates responses to health threats across its member states. It works with governments to strengthen health systems.
Current priorities
The WHO frames its work around three broad priorities, often described as a triple billion ambition - more people benefiting from universal health coverage, more people protected from health emergencies, and more people enjoying better health and wellbeing. In practice these priorities are:
- Universal health coverage - helping countries build health systems so all people can access quality essential services without financial hardship.
- Health emergencies - preparing for, preventing, detecting and responding to outbreaks, disasters and pandemics.
- Healthier populations - addressing the wider determinants of health and promoting wellbeing, including action on nutrition, clean air, and non-communicable disease.
Examples of the WHO at work
- Coordinating global responses to disease outbreaks and pandemics, including declaring public health emergencies of international concern.
- Leading immunisation and disease-control efforts, such as the long campaign that eradicated smallpox and ongoing work toward eradicating polio.
- Developing guidelines and standards, such as dietary and air-quality recommendations and the model list of essential medicines.
- Collecting and publishing global health data and statistics that guide policy.
- Running programs targeting major killers such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
Linking to the SDGs
The WHO is central to achieving SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing). Its push for universal health coverage directly supports the SDG 3 target, and its work on emergencies, nutrition and disease control supports both SDG 3 and connected goals. By strengthening health systems and setting standards, the WHO creates the conditions for countries to make progress on the health goal.
In the exam, name the WHO priority, describe a concrete example of its work, and explain how that work promotes health and wellbeing and supports the SDGs.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VCAA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
2025 VCAA3 marksMore than 2.1 million Zimbabweans were vaccinated against cholera in a single-dose reactive campaign that was funded and supported by the World Health Organization to curb an outbreak reported across all 10 provinces. Identify one World Health Organization (WHO) objective and explain how it is reflected in the program above. (3 marks)
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Three marks: name one WHO objective/priority (1 mark) and explain how the cholera program reflects it (about 2 marks).
For example, a WHO priority is responding to health emergencies and outbreaks, or promoting universal health coverage (1 mark). The program reflects this because the WHO funded and supported a mass cholera vaccination campaign to rapidly contain a disease outbreak affecting all 10 provinces (1 mark), protecting more than 2.1 million people and reducing illness and death, which is exactly the WHO's role in coordinating responses to emergencies and improving access to health interventions (1 mark). Name a recognised WHO objective and link it directly to features of the program.
2023 VCAA4 marksOn World AIDS Day the WHO focused on equality, stating that everyone everywhere should have equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care, with health services adapted to reach populations most at risk and a 'zero tolerance' approach to stigma and discrimination. Identify and describe one WHO strategic priority that is reflected in this information, using one example from the information to support your answer. (4 marks)
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Four marks: identify one WHO strategic priority (1 mark), describe it (about 1 to 2 marks) and support it with an example from the stimulus (1 mark).
Identify (1 mark): promoting universal health coverage / equal access to health services (or addressing health equity). Describe (about 2 marks): this priority aims to ensure all people can access the quality health services they need without discrimination or financial hardship, with services adapted to those most at risk. Example (1 mark): the World AIDS Day message that 'everyone, everywhere has equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care' and the call to adapt services to populations most at risk and apply zero tolerance to stigma directly reflect this priority. Tie the description to a quoted example for full marks.