International Office of Public Hygiene

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 founded 9 December 1907 and based in Paris, France. It merged into the World Health Organization after World War II.

History

It was created to oversee international rules regarding the quarantining of ships and ports to prevent the spread of plague and cholera, 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, cannabis, and other drugs, the traumas created by World War I, etc.

The OIHP was part of the complex structure known as the Health Organization (Organisation d'Hygiène) of the League of Nations, 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 service was incorporated into the Interim Commission of the World Health Organization on 1 January 1947. However, the OIHP remained in existence legally until 1952.

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.

As of 1933, the OIHP was composed of the following contracting parties: