The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors diseases all over the world. WHO is involved in immunization programs, and establishes standards for biological and pharmaceutical substances. WHO publishes many reports as well as an annual health report. See (www.who.org) This agency not only has a sophisticated capacity to understand and combat new and re-emerging diseases, it has an experienced delivery system. It can mobilize and dispatch teams to initiate control measures on site within 24 hours. This is no minor matter in an era where diseases can spread very rapidly.

Over the past 50 years average life expectancy at birth has increased globally by almost 20 years, from about 46 years in 1950 to about 66 years in 2002.

Yet the picture of global health shows enormous morally unacceptable contrasts: a baby girl born in Japan today can expect to live about 85 years while a girl born in Sierra Leone has a life expectancy of 36 years.

170 million children in poor countries are underweight and over 3 million of them die each year as a result. About 1.7 million deaths a year are attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene, mainly in developing countries. Most surprisingly, 2 billion people suffer from iron deficiency, with one million dying a year. Measures such as disinfecting unsafe water and providing supplements of Vitamin A, zinc and iron will save many lives.

In 2002 it is estimated that 5 million people got AIDS and almost 3 million died. In the richer countries many people with advanced AIDS are leading mostly normal lives, thanks to a combination of chemotherapy and antiretroviral agents (ARV) turning AIDS into a chronic and treatable disease. Because of the cost of drugs, the poor in rich countries and the population of poorer countries are condemned to a death sentence.

The UN has promoted a multilateral consortium, the Global Fund, to fight tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS, It is, however, short of funds. The United States has established another program, also under-funded, promoting abstinence, discouraging the use of condoms, and limiting the use of cheaper generic drugs, presumably to protect patents. In addition, by not supporting the UN Population Fund, the US is undermining reproductive health programs, jeopardizing the lives of many poor women.

WHO is currently on a campaign entitled the 3 by 5 Initiative, aiming to maintain 3 million people on ARVs by the end of 2005. According to estimates 5 to 6 million in poorer societies will die in the next two years if they do not receive antiretroviral treatment. With will and political action poor countries can solve their AIDS problems. Brazil has become one of the first countries in the world to mandate universal and free access to HIV care. By transforming a private problem into a public one, sufferers have emerged from hiding. Now that ARVs are widely available, HIV incidence has declined.