Headquarters in Geneva
A child with smallpox. In 1980, the World Health Organization announced the global eradication of smallpox. It is the only human disease to be eradicated worldwide.
Malaria parasite connecting to a red blood cell
Headquarters in Geneva
Boy with smallpox (1969). The last natural smallpox case was of Ali Maow Maalin, in Merca, Somalia, on 26 October 1977.
Main symptoms of malaria
Alexey Yablokov (left) and Vassili Nesterenko (farthest right) protesting in front of the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in 2008.
1962 Pakistani postage stamp promoting malaria eradication program
The life cycle of malaria parasites. Sporozoites are introduced by a mosquito bite. They migrate to the liver, where they multiply into thousands of merozoites. The merozoites infect red blood cells and replicate, infecting more and more red blood cells. Some parasites form gametocytes, which are taken up by a mosquito, continuing the life cycle.
Demonstration on Chernobyl disaster day near WHO in Geneva
Rabies-free countries and territories as of 2018
Micrograph of a placenta from a stillbirth due to maternal malaria. H&E stain. Red blood cells are anuclear; blue/black staining in bright red structures (red blood cells) indicate foreign nuclei from the parasites.
Three former directors of the Global Smallpox Eradication Programme read the news that smallpox had been globally eradicated, 1980
Electron micrograph of a Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cell (center), illustrating adhesion protein "knobs"
Countries by World Health Organization membership status
The blood film is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis.
Stairwell, 1969
Ring-forms and gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum in human blood
Internal courtyard, 1969
An Anopheles stephensi mosquito shortly after obtaining blood from a human (the droplet of blood is expelled as a surplus). This mosquito is a vector of malaria, and mosquito control is an effective way of reducing its incidence.
Reflecting pool, 1969
Man spraying kerosene oil in standing water, Panama Canal Zone, 1912
Exterior, 1969
Walls where indoor residual spraying of DDT has been applied. The mosquitoes remain on the wall until they fall down dead on the floor.
From Southwest, 2013
A mosquito net in use.
Entrance hall, 2013
An advertisement for quinine as a malaria treatment from 1927.
Main conference room, 2013
Deaths due to malaria per million persons in 2012
Map of the WHO's regional offices and their respective operating regions.
Africa; HQ: Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
Western Pacific; HQ: Manila, Philippines
Eastern Mediterranean; HQ: Cairo, Egypt
South East Asia; HQ: New Delhi, India
Europe; HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark
Americas; HQ: Washington, D.C., US
Past and current malaria prevalence in 2009
Ancient malaria oocysts preserved in Dominican amber
British doctor Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria.
Chinese medical researcher Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2015 for her work on the antimalarial drug artemisinin.
Artemisia annua, source of the antimalarial drug artemisinin
U.S. Marines with malaria in a field hospital on Guadalcanal, October 1942
Members of the Malaria Commission of the League of Nations collecting larvae on the Danube delta, 1929
1962 Pakistani postage stamp promoting malaria eradication program
Malaria clinic in Tanzania
Child with malaria in Ethiopia
World War II poster
Disability-adjusted life year for malaria per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004
no data
<10
0–100
100–500
500–1000
1000–1500
1500–2000
2000–2500
2500–2750
2750–3000
3000–3250
3250–3500
≥3500

There are four ongoing programs, targeting the human diseases poliomyelitis (polio), yaws, dracunculiasis (Guinea worm), and malaria.

- Eradication of infectious diseases

The WHO has played a leading role in several public health achievements, most notably the eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of polio, and the development of an Ebola vaccine.

- World Health Organization

Its current priorities include communicable diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, Ebola, COVID-19, malaria and tuberculosis; non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer; healthy diet, nutrition, and food security; occupational health; and substance abuse.

- World Health Organization

In 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) passed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

- Eradication of infectious diseases

In areas where malaria is common, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends clinicians suspect malaria in any person who reports having fevers, or who has a current temperature above 37.5 °C without any other obvious cause.

- Malaria

However, due to vector and parasite resistance and other factors, the feasibility of eradicating malaria with the strategy used at the time and resources available led to waning support for the program.

- Malaria
Headquarters in Geneva

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