761 



World Health Organization — "work out programs and performance 

 standards with developing countries * * * establishing their own 

 priorities * * * the [unrealistic] expectation of immediate results * * * 

 policies and new technologies adapted to the local government * * * 

 strengthening of local institutions * * * the principle that administra- 

 tors are accountable for achieving objectives * * * restrictions on op- 

 erations should be held to a minimum * * * all people, rich and poor 

 alike, have a common interest in peace, in the eradication of poverty 

 and disease, in a healthful environment * * ♦.'■^oe 



Second, a key conclusion of the Peterson Report is its distinct turn 

 away from the short-term, national interest, foreign policy orientation 

 of past U.S. participation in international institutions : 



This country should not look for gratitude or votes, or any 

 specific short-term foreign policy gains from our participa- 

 tion in international development. Nor should it expect to 

 influence others to adopt U.S. cultural values or institutions. 

 Neither can it assume that development will necessarily bring 

 political stability. Development implies change — political 

 and social, as well as economic — and such change, for a time, 

 may be disruptive.^"' 



If the national objectives of the United States as a member of WHO 

 and PAHO are perceived within the philosophy of the above 

 paragraph, it might be appropriate to consider a change in the De- 

 partment of State as the prime mover of the U.S. administrative ma- 

 chinery for these organizations. The line of reasoning for such a 

 change is as follows : 



The expansion of national public health interests to global dimen- 

 sions calls not only for diplomacy or statesmanship of the conventional 

 type; it calls for worldwide experience with science, medicine, and 

 public health as political systems themselves and for experts in the 

 subject matter. The more reliance there is on multilateral organiza- 

 tions for controlling disease and assisting all the countries of the world 

 in improving their state of health, the less need there is for a national 

 or bilateral point of view. The more the health of the State becomes de- 

 pendent upon the health of the world, the more the interests and tech- 

 nology of the State become blended into those of the world. If and when 

 it appears that the only feasible approach to the problems of human 

 health is indeed a worldwide approach, it will be necessary for knowl- 

 edge to be shared and exchanged by those who are in possession of it 

 and who by tradition and practice are used to sharing and exchanging 

 it. The multilateral health organizations are simply institutional 

 devices for encouraging this process in the international health 

 profession. 



For guidelines on what to change to, if the Department of State 

 does not appear to be the logical home for the WHO and PAHO of 

 the future, the following is a possible alternative for consideration : 



Let it be supposed that the national objective of U.S. participation 

 in WHO and PAHO is to protect Americans from disease from abroad 

 by means of rational and accepted public health procedures. 



;<« ..jT s Foreign Assistance in the 1970's." op. clt., selected passages. 

 "" Ibid., nuec 2. 



*" Ibid., page 2 



97-400 O - 77 - 11 



