T he World Health Organization (WHO) was founded in 1948 as a special agency of the United Nations. The WHO goal is “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health” (WHO, 1999, p.2). To achieve this objective, the main functions of WHO are to direct and coordinate international health work by setting standards and guidelines and to provide technical assistance in cooperat...

To present an overview of the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. The discussion draws on knowledge gleaned from the authors' participation as principals in WMH. WMH has carried out community epidemiological surveys in more than two dozen countries with more than 200,000 completed interviews. Additional surveys are in progress. Clinical reappraisal studies emb...

W orldwide, nearly 1.2 million people are killed in road traffic crashes every year and about 20 million to 50 million more are injured or disabled. These injuries account for 2.1% of global mortality and 2.6% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost. Low income and middle income countries account for about 85% of the deaths and 90% of the DALYs lost annually as a result of road traff...