The primary objective of the Organisation, established in 1948, is the achievement, by all populations, of the highest possible level of health, understood not as the absence of disease but as a state of total physical, mental and social well-being.

In Italy there is a WHO office (in Venice) dedicated to investing in health and development, while 28 collaborating centres are currently accredited (in terms of the number of these facilities. Italy ranks second in Europe and ninth in the world). These centres, specialised institutions to which the WHO does not provide any funding, are identified by the General Director of the WHO and are part of a worldwide network supporting the organisation in various medical-scientific fields. In Italy their activities are coordinated by the Ministry of Health.