World Health Organization collection


11 November 2005 Introduction
The Library has an extensive collection of over 2,000 World Health Organization (WHO) books and reports. These are both publications of the WHO Head Quarters in Geneva and the Regional Office for Europe (WHO Euro) in Copenhagen. The earliest publications that we have date from the late 1950s, but we also receive several copies of current WHO books.

Political changes in central and eastern Europe have increased the membership of the WHO Euro by a half again, and also validated its health development work in immunisation, environmental protection and the Health for All programme (Go to the HFA database here http://www.euro.who.int/hfadb). This is in addition to full sets of the International Agency for Research into Cancer series, the WHO pesticide series, Environmental Health Criteria, European Reports and Studies, WHO Technical Reports, and Public Health in Europe.

WHO EURO Documentation Centre Network
In 1990, the BMA became a Documentation Centre (DC) of the WHO Euro, together with the Kings Fund Centre in London, the Nuffield Institute for Health in Leeds and, in 1995, Health Promotion Wales in Cardiff. There are 40 other centres in 36 European countries. The scheme was established in order to improve the dissemination of all EURO semi-published documents. Three European meetings have been organised: the first in Berlin in 1990, the second in Copenhagen in 1993, and the most recent one in Copenhagen in January 1998.

DCs were established in 1990 on the recommendation of a WHO working group which met in Berlin in November 1990. The working group looked at the entire scope of WHO publishing activity concentrating on the dissemination of information. Publication is essential to all aspects of WHO's work which centres around the organisation of expert meetings which create and comment on the authoritative publications which WHO produces. Publications and documents promote the regional strategy for Health for All (HFA) and promote regional targets and programmes.

WHO has an extensive publishing programme. But a large organisation such as WHO produces a large amount of grey material which is not published commercially. These documents are often the preliminary basis of eventual publications or they may be progress reports on health for all targets. For many years, the WHO has maintained depository libraries in most countries of the world which act as an archive of WHO materials. The Berlin working party, however, was more concerned with the dissemination of WHO materials, particularly of documents which often fail to reach their intended readership. The main outcome of this meeting was the establishment of a network of DCs in Europe.

The principal aim of the DC is to disseminate WHO Euro information and statistics. The promotion of WHO Euro materials is also encouraged as is the evaluation of the usefulness of different forms of materials. Centres are required to have a bibliographical retrieval system and be able to reproduce and distribute Euro documents on request. Other functions depend on the type of work undertaken by the DC or the prevailing concerns of their country. Some HFA materials have been translated into local languages by DCs. A further function is the collection and indexing of national HFA materials and the development of HFA databases of national materials which could be included in the EURODOC database. The UK Health for All Network has undertaken this work in the UK.

The work of the DCs was reviewed by a second meeting which was held in Copenhagen in November 1993. The meeting was attended by representatives of the DCs, WHO Euro staff and WHO Geneva staff. The overall objective was to look at the practical links which had been established between WHO Euro and the DCs and to review the work that had been achieved over the first few years. Three main issues were addressed: the role of a DC; networking and outreach to target groups It quickly became apparent during the meeting that while objectives may be the same, the methods used to achieve them be determined by local conditions. The main problem for many DCs is that of translating materials.

The four UK WHO Euro DCs have now formed an informal network to encourage use of WHO materials in the UK. At a meeting in Liverpool in September 1994, contacts were established with the staff of the UK Health for All Network. The third meeting of the WHO DCs, which met in Copenhagen in January 1998, worked to strengthen links between WHO Euro and DCs and between regional DCs.

Services of the BMA WHO DC
Finding out about WHO materials
All WHO books and reports which are available here can be searched for in the BMA Library catalogues. Select from the option below for further information regarding web access to the BMA library catalogues:
Go to web access to the library catalogues

The BMA DC does not hold every book and document produced by WHO or WHO Euro. If you cannot find the document that you need in the BMA Library catalogues then you should search the WHOLIS database which is available from either the WHO or the WHO Euro web sites
Go to the WHOLIS databae here http://www.who.int/library/database/index.en.shtml.

The WHO catalogue is an excellent resource which includes full bibliographic descriptions. Journal articles are also indexed and abstracts are provided. Results can be limited by particular publication year, general or specific material type, language, or category. It uses web technology so that the user can pivot from one search to another. For example, a search for malaria as a title word can pivot to materials issued by the World Health Organization Roll Back Malaria team or to specific articles on malaria prevention and control. WHO materials have rich subject indexing. The WHO Library web pages also include comprehensive guidelines on how to use WHOLIS.

Another useful feature is the inclusion of the code which gives details of which unit produced the item. This item, Antimicrobial resistance monitoring : information exchange and opportunities for collaboration : report of the secont joint WHO/IFPMA meeting, Geneva, 2-3 April 1998, has this codes EMC/BAC/98.4 . This gives the information needed to link to the WHO Division of Emerging and other Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control site for further information.

Full text information on the WHO and Euro web sites
Many recent documents are available full text on the world wide web with a link from WHOLIS. The document above for example is available in full text as a PDF file at:
Go to this document here http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1998/EMC_BAC_98.4.pdf

WHO and Euro have included many popular documents on their web sites. The WHO Library site has a useful index of WHO newsletters with contact information and links to web versions:
Go to this document here http://www.who.int/library/reference/information/newsletters/index.en.shtml

The Bulletin of the World Health Organization, one of the most important journals in public health, is now available full text from the WHO site at:
Go to the bulletin here http://www.who.int/bulletin/en

The best way to find information, whether subject information or specific, is to use either the WHO site map at:
Go to the site map here http://www.who.int/health_topics/en/

Consulting WHO materials
WHO books and reports are available only for loan to personal members and institutional members of the BMA. Non-members of the BMA are allowed reference use of the WHO collections by prior arrangement with the Head of the BMA DC. Spare copies of WHO EURO documents are kept and, if available, can be posted to you. DCs do not receive WHO HQ documents. If you wish to obtain WHO HQ documents then you should contact the relevant programme of the WHO HQ and they will send them to you if still available.
Contact the programme here http://www.who.int/about/contacthq/en/

WHO enquiry services
If you have an enquiry about WHO or WHO Euro documents or policies then you can consult one of the DCs in your country. DCs can advise on obtaining WHO materials although only limited research can be undertaken.
Go to the list here http://www.who.dk/informationsources/Publications/DocCentres.

WHO web sites
Alternatively, you can access either of the two WHO web sites. Both contain a lot of useful information such as objectives for the different initiatives, patient information and so on. The WHO Euro web site contains information on the European HFA policy as well as the technical programmes and country information.
Go to the WHO Regional Office for Europe website here http://www.who.dk

The WHO HQ in Geneva also has a web site which contains programme information but also patient information and the full WHO catalogue.
Go to the WHO website here http://www.who.ch.

The site categorises the different aspects of the technical programmes. Some links however are to resources outside of the WHO web site. Euro information on air quality is organised through the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health in Bilthoven in the Netherlands. The section on air quality includes a list of relevant documents most of which are available in PDF format. This unit also has links to other sources of information such as the the Health and Environment Library Modules (HELM) for air quality.

These valuable resources are produced by the Documentation Centres of the WHO Programme for the Promotion of Environmental Health, the Office of Library and Health Literature and the Distribution and Sales Office. It is a collection of the main scientific and technical information from WHO, UNEP and other international organizations.

Some units include patient information on their web sites. The Vaccine Research and Development unit include informative summaries and overviews of research at their web site:
Go to the website here http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/en/

The EURO web site contains useful summaries of health situations in different countries. These country highlights are substantial reviews which have been useful:
Go to the website here http://www.who.dk/eprise/main/WHO/CountryInformation/TopPage

The Euro office is a partner in the European Observatory on Health Care Systems. This promotes comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the health care systems in Europe. The Health Care Systems in Transition profiles are very popular with BMA Library users as they are up to date and succinct. Some of them are available full text on the web at:
Go to the website here http://www.euro.who.int/InformationSources/Evidence/20011015_2

The European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (ECOHOST) researches health care in the ‘transition’ countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Information about different countries is available at:
Go to the website here http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/ecohost/

The Euro web site also contains a list of links to government web sites of European countries:
Go to the website here http://www.who.dk/eprise/main/WHO/AboutWHO/About/MH

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