“How Ineffective is the Existing International Health Office”: Problems in the Creation of the Health Organization of the League of Nations

In this article, based on documents from the League of Nations archives, the author examines the history of the creation of the League of Nations Health Organisation after the First World War. The founders of the League failed to implement the Treaty of Versailles and create a single global organisation to fight epidemics and preserve public health. At the time of the creation of the Versailles world order, there were several centers around which a permanent international health organization could be formed. The Covenant of the League of Nations, which was part of the Treaty of Versailles, required stricter coordination of all international health institutions and their subordination to a single center in the League of Nations. The British delegation at the Paris Peace Conference took initiative in solving this problem. However, all attempts to create a health organization quickly ended in failure due to disagreements between the Allied Powers. The United States, guided by the interests of commerce and the preservation of influence, took the position of protecting the independence of the International Office of Public Hygiene in Paris. France also wanted to keep the prestigious international office in Paris. As a result, the Health Organization of the League of Nations experienced constant underfunding, as well as bureaucratic red tape in an environment where quick decisions had to be made in the field of medical research and disease control.