World Health Organization

During September 1953 sessions of four regional committees of the World Health Organization were held. From September 7 to 10, the third session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe met in Copenhagen. Among the major recommendations of the committee, which was attended by delegates from 22 countries, was that Geneva should become the permanent site of the regional office for Europe. For 1955 aid to health projects, training courses, and other activities in European countries, the committee recommended a budget of approximately $l,600,000. Part of this amount was to come from the regular budget of WHO, and the rest from United Nations technical assistance funds, UNICEF, and other agencies having joint program arrangements with WHO. The work already carried out through the regional office for Europe received general approval, minor revisions in the plans for 1954 were made, and a program for 1955 was discussed and approved. Particular attention in the plans for Europe was given to educational and training activities; these included conferences on various subjects, such as modern trends in tuberculosis control, and special studies of interest to many countries on such subjects as water standards, teaching methods for nurses, and sanitary engineering terminology in English and French. An extensive fellowship program was also approved. Despite the emphasis on education and training in the program for 1955, almost a fifth of the total budget for this year was to be devoted to the control of certain communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis (in Austria, Finland and Turkey), diphtheria and whooping cough (in Yugoslavia), and trachoma (in Tunisia and Morocco).