The International Office of Public Hygiene (OIPH), also known by its French name as the Office International d'Hygiène Publique (OIHP), was an

international organization An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own le ...

founded 9 December 1907 and based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. It merged into the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

in 1946. It is the world's first universal health organization. Member states exchanged information about the presence and spread of disease, as well as provided recommendations for sanitation. The organization helped restructure public health services in Greece and China in the late 1920s.

History

It was created to oversee international rules regarding the

quarantining A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

of ships and ports to prevent the spread of plague and

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

, and to administer other public health conventions, leading to engage on other epidemics, and the collection of broader epidemiological data on various diseases, as well as issues such as the control of medicinal

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

, and other drugs, the traumas created by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, etc. The idea to establish an international office for the purpose of acquiring and disseminating information about communicable diseases such as

and yellow fever was first proposed in 1903 at the International Sanitary Convention in

. The French government assumed the responsibility of drafting a proposal for establishing an organization and the final draft was submitted in August 1907. A following conference was held in Rome on December 3, of that same year, and in attendance were delegates from Belgium, Brazil, British India, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. After some modifications, all delegates except from Romania, signed the organic statutes on December 9. November 4, 1908, a committee composed of members from each country that ratified the document met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. This would be the blueprint of the body’s permanent form. Its responsibilities were to create the bureau, draw up its regulations, supply its expenses, and direct its first operations. The OIHP was part of the complex structure known as the Health Organization () of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, in an often-competing, and sometimes collaborative relation with the League of Nations' Health Committee. The OIHP was dissolved by protocols signed 22 July 1946 and its

epidemiological Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

service was incorporated into the Interim Commission of the

on 1 January 1947. However, the OIHP remained in existence legally until 1952. In 1930, the Permanent committee for the OIHP played a role in addressing an outbreak of plague at various ports along the Mediterranean coast. In response to this outbreak, the committee first requested information regarding antiplague vaccine distribution regarding the type and quantity of vaccines distributed. The office also tasked a commission with developing a serum that could identify various bacterias.Permanent Committee of the International Office of Public Hygiene: Special Session of May, 1931. (1931). ''Public Health Reports (1896)'', ''46''(46), 2726–2739. League of Nations Organization

Organisation

The OIHP was managed by a "Permanent Committee" chaired successively by Rocco Santoliquido (1908-1919), Oscar Velghe (1919-1932), George S. Buchanan (1932-1936). Important personalities were taking part in the work of the OIHP such as

Camille Barrère Camille Barrère (23 October 1851 – 7 October 1940) was a French diplomat, most notably the ambassador to Italy from 1897 to 1924. In 1902, Barrère negotiated a secret accord with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Prinetti that ...

. As of 1933, the OIHP was composed of the following contracting parties: * , 1910 * , 1909 * Flag of the Congo Free State

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

, 1927 * , 1907 * , 1912 * , 1907 *

British dominions A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

, 1927 *

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, 1908 * , 1909 * , 1910 * , 1912 * , 1913 * (

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which declared independence on 17 August 1945. Following the Indonesian War of Independe ...

), 1925 * , 1907 * , 1907 *

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, 1910 *

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (, or AEF) was a federation of French colonial territories in Equatorial Africa which consisted of Gabon, French Congo, Ubangi-Shari, and Chad. It existed from 1910 to 1958 and its administration was based in Brazzav ...

, 1929 *

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

, 1914 *

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

, 1920 * , 1928 * (

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

), 1907 * , 1913 *

Kingdom of Hejaz The Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz (, ''Al-Mamlakah al-Ḥijāziyyah Al-Hāshimiyyah'') was a state in the Hejaz region of Western Asia that included the western portion of the Arabian Peninsula that was ruled by the Hashemite dynasty. It was self ...

, 1932 * (

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

), 1928 * , 1907 * , 1924 * , 1926 * , 1920 * , 1920 * , 1909 * , 1913 * , 1907 * , 1912 * , 1924 * , 1908 * , 1909 * , 1920 * , 1907 * , 1921 * , 1926 * , 1909 * * , 1922 *

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

, 1919 * , 1907 *

French protectorate of Tunisia The French protectorate of Tunisia (; '), officially the Regency of Tunis () and commonly referred to as simply French Tunisia, was established in 1881, during the French colonial empire era, and lasted until Tunisian independence in 1956. T ...

, 1908 * , 1911 * , 1907 * , 1926 (initially accessed as in 1907) * , 1913

References

Permanent Committee of the International Office of Public Hygiene: Special Session of May, 1931. (1931). ''Public Health Reports (1896)'', ''46''(46), 2726–2739. {{DEFAULTSORT:Office International D'hygiene Publique International medical and health organizations Organizations based in Paris Organizations established in 1907 Organizations disestablished in 1946

History

Organisation

See also

References