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Unfortunately, like most U.N. agencies, the WHO's activities have long been captive to a highly political agenda. For instance, earlier this year the organization claimed that a third of childhood deaths in Europe were due to environmental causes.

It's a preposterous claim. European analysts Jaap Hanekamp and Julian Morris observe: "few of these deaths were actually caused by problems generally associated with 'the environment.' Out of 100,000 total deaths, 75,000 were caused by accidents -- e.g. drowning, fires, falls and other hazards of childhood. Of the remaining 25,000 deaths, nearly all of them in poor countries such as Turkey and Russia, most were caused by a combination of dirty water, poor sanitation, malaria and indoor air pollution."

But the facts didn't stop the WHO. It was particularly upset about the presumed threat of global warming, which, it claimed, would result in "more widespread and severe" deaths due to diarrhea, floods, malaria, and nutritional problems. Yet, Hanekamp and Morris archly observe, "No scientific evidence was offered to support these claims -- perhaps because none exists."

NEVERTHELESS, THE WORLD HEALTH organization is advancing its so-called Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe which, naturally, advocated more regulations over technology, such as fossil fuels, pesticides, and plastics. The result will be to make us all poorer, yet wealth is one of the most important determinants of health. Wealthier societies are better able to care for those who are most vulnerable to illness.

For instance, the pesticide DDT is one of the most effective mechanisms to kill mosquitoes, which spread malaria. Cheaper energy lowers the cost of producing food. Important medical devices are made from plastics. Under the guise of promoting the "precautionary principle," the WHO is ignoring problems that today kill millions while fretting over worst-case scenarios for the future that are unlikely ever to occur. Simply providing clean water and improving sanitation would do more to help Third World peoples than do most of the WHO's highly publicized initiatives.