Whereas Chapter XI of the Constitution of the World Health Organization provides that the Pan American Sanitary Organization represented by the Pan American Sanitary Bureau and the Pan American Sanitary Conferences shall in due course be integrated with the World Health Organization and that such integration shall be effected as soon as practicable through common action based on mutual consent of the competent authorities expressed through the organizations concerned; and
Whereas the World Health Organization and the Pan American Sanitary Organization have agreed that measures towards the implementation of such action by the conclusion of an agreement shall be taken when at least fourteen American countries shall have ratified the Constitution of the World Health Organization; and
Whereas on the twenty-second of April, 1949, this condition was satisfied,
It is Hereby Agreed as Follows:
Article 1
The States and territories of the Western Hemisphere make up the geographical area of a regional organization of the World Health Organization, as provided in Chapter XI of its Constitution.
Article 2
The Pan American Sanitary Conference through the Directing Council of the Pan American Sanitary Organization and the Pan American Sanitary Bureau shall serve respectively as the Regional Committee and the Regional Office of the World Health Organization for the Western Hemisphere, within the provisions of the Constitution of the World Health Organization.  In deference to tradition, both organizations shall retain their respective names, to which shall be added "Regional Committee of the World Health Organization" and "Regional Office of the World Health Organization" respectively.
Article 3
The Pan American Sanitary Conference may adopt and promote health and sanitary conventions and programmes in the Western Hemisphere, provided that such conventions and programmes are compatible with the policy and programmes of the World Health Organization and are separately financed.
Article 4
When this agreement enters into force, the Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau shall assume, subject to provisions of Article 2, the post of Regional Director of the World Health Organization, until the termination of the period for which he was elected.  Thereafter, the Regional Director shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of Articles 49 and 52 of the World Health Organization Constitution.
Article 5
In accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the Constitution of the World Health Organization, the Director-General of the World Health Organization shall receive from the Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau full information regarding the administration and the operations of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau as the Regional Office for the Western Hemisphere.
Article 6
An adequate proportion of the budget of the World Health Organization shall be allocated for regional work.
Article 7
The annual budget estimates for the expenses of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau as the Regional Office for the Western Hemisphere shall be prepared by the Regional Director and shall be submitted to the Director-General for his consideration in the preparation of the annual budget estimates of the World Health Organization.
Article 8
The funds allocated to the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, as Regional Office of the World Health Organization, under the budget of the World Health Organization, shall be managed in accordance with the financial policies and procedures of the World Health Organization.
Article 9
This agreement may be supplemented with the consent of both parties, on the initiative of either party.
Article 10
This agreement shall enter into force upon its approval by the World Health Assembly and signature by the Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, acting on behalf of the Pan American Sanitary Conference, provided that fourteen of the American Republics have at that time deposited their instruments of acceptance of the Constitution of the World Health Organization.
Article 11
In case of doubt or difficulty in interpretation, the English text shall govern.
In Witness Whereof this Agreement was done and signed at Washington, D.C. on this 24th day of May nineteen hundred and forty-nine in four copies, two in English and two in French.
For the World Health Organization
Brock Chisholm
Director-General
For the Pan American Sanitary Conference
Fred L. Soper
The Director
"Agreement With The Pan American Sanitary Organization*
The Second World Health Assembly,
Acting in pursuance of Chapter XI of the Constitution of the World Health Organization,
Approves the Agreement between the World Health Organization and the Pan American Sanitary Organization signed in Washington by the Director-General of the World Health Organization and the Director of the Pan American Sanitary Organization on 24 May 1949;
Declares that the said Agreement shall have effect from 1 July 1949."
*This agreement was approved in the tenth plenary session of the Second World Health Assembly, held in Rome in June, 1949.
Ratification Of The Constitution Of The World Health Organization By Countries Members Of the PASO
(Signed in New York on 22 July 1946)
Haiti . . . 12 August, 1947
Mexico . . . 7 April, 1948
Brazil . . . 2 June, 1948
Dominican Republic . . . 21 June, 1948
United States . . . 21 June, 1948
El Salvador . . . 22 June, 1948
Venezuela . . . 7 July, 1948
Chile . . . 15 October, 1948
Argentina . . . 22 October, 1948
Paraguay . . . 4 January, 1949
Ecuador . . . 1 March, 1949
Costa Rica . . . 17 March, 1949
Honduras . . . 8 April, 1949
Uruguay . . . 22 April, 1949
Guatemala . . . 25 August, 1949
Peru . . . 11 November, 1949
Bolivia . . . 23 December, 1949
Nicaragua . . . 24 April, 1950
Cuba . . . 9 May, 1950