Global Health Histories

Selected links

The Global Health Histories initiative at WHO has forged close professional links with leading centres of medical and public health history, and continues to expand this network. In addition it works with individual health historians in many countries, and with WHO staff and retired staff at its Headquarters and Regional Offices who share an interest in health history.

The WHO Records and Archives service

The mandate of the Records and Archives service is to manage, preserve and provide appropriate access to the current and semi-active records and the historical archives of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Centre for Global Health Histories at the University of York

The World Health Organization's Global Health Histories project, established within the WHO headquarters and regional offices in 2004, is run in association with the Department of History at the University of York. The annual WHO Global Health Histories seminar series, which forms an important part of the project, is co-hosted in Geneva and elsewhere by the World Health Organization and the University of York.

The National Library of Medicine

The National Library of Medicine houses one of the world's largest history of medicine collections. It collects, preserves, and makes available to researchers and the public, print and non-print materials that document the history of medicine, health, and disease in all time periods and cultures. The NLM invites scholars, researchers, and the general public to explore its our catalogues, finding aids, online exhibitions, and other resources on this Web site.

The Rockefeller Archive Center

The Rockefeller Archive Center, a division of The Rockefeller University, has assembled, processed, and made available for scholarly research the papers of the Rockefeller family and the records of various philanthropic and educational institutions founded by the family. The Center's archives provide unique insights into worldwide developments and issues of the 19th and 20th centuries. Major subjects covered include agriculture, education, medicine, philanthropy and politics.

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz)

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) is the most prominent science and technology health institution in Latin America, attached to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Its aims include promoting health and social development, and forging and disseminating scientific and technological knowledge. The institution, located in the northern suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, is noted for its excellence in a wide range of health activities and its proposals on public health policy-making.

The Centre for History in Public Health

The Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine aims to be a centre of expertise for historical research on public health, in particular, its twentieth and twenty-first century history. It also aims to facilitate greater opportunities for historical research, raise the awareness of public health history in the analysis of current policy options, and also to raise awareness with the general public awareness of public health history.

Institut d'Histoire de la Médecine et de la Santé

L'Institut d'Histoire de la Médecine et de la Santé est une structure de recherche et d'enseignement appartenant au Département de Santé et Médecine Communautaire de la Faculté de Médecine de Genève.

l’Institut universitaire d’histoire de la médecine et de la santé publique (IUHMSP)

L’IUHMSP fait partie de la Faculté de biologie et de médecine de l’Université de Lausanne. L’IUHMSP a pour mission de développer la recherche et l’enseignement en histoire sociale, culturelle, épistémologique de la médecine et des sciences de la vie, ainsi que dans celui des études sociales et de la médiation culturelle de la médecine et des sciences.

Illustrated landmarks in the history of WHO

Global health histories banner 1
Global health histories banner 2

Contact information

WHO Press
World Health Organization
20 Avenue Appia
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Email: GHHistories@who.int