The Lexicon

To promote a common understanding of technical terms related to health and environment issues WHO has created an on-line searchable database with multi-language terminology equivalence, called the Health and Environment Lexicon.  Most terms currently have multi-language equivalents in French (2,300), Spanish (2,100), and Portuguese (1,700) with Arabic (1,300), Chinese (1,300), German (600),  and Russian (800) being added progressively. This is an on-going project which has three phases, listed in order of priority: 1) translations; 2) definitions; and 3) explanations and examples. The Lexicon is being extended, completed and improved with all three phases being addressed simultaneously for some terms.