The World Health Day, an initiative of World Health Organisation, is celebrated by the people across the world every year on April 7 to draw people’s attention towards the importance of global health. World Health Assembly was held for the first time in the year 1948 in Geneva by the WHO where it was decided that World Health Day will be celebrated annually on April 7, every year. Various events related to the theme of the year are organised on the international and national level by the WHO. Since its establishment it has addressed serious health issues including chickenpox, polio, smallpox, TB, leprosy and etc from various developing countries. The theme of World Health Day 2018 is ‘Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere’ and the slogan is ‘Health for All’.

Theme & Campaign Essentials

In WHO’s 70th anniversary year, World Health Day will focus on ‘Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere’ – ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access essential quality health services without facing financial hardship. Making and sustaining progress towards UHC requires strong and sustained political commitment. So, this anniversary year, WHO is calling on world leaders to live up to the pledges they made when they agreed the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and to commit concrete actions to advance #HealthForAll.

Throughout a series of events in 2018, starting one World Health Day, WHO aims to inspire, motivate and guide UHC stakeholders to make commitments towards UHC:

  • Inspire – by highlighting policy-makers’ power to transform the health of their nation and inviting them to drive policy change.

  • Motivate – by sharing examples of how countries are already progressing towards UHC and encourage others to find their own path.

  • Guide – by providing tools for conversations and structured policy dialogue on how to advance UHC domestically or supporting such efforts in other countries.

UHC matters because access to essential quality care and financial protection not only enhances people’s health and life expectancy, but also protects countries from epidemics, reduces poverty and the risk of hunger, creates jobs, drives economic growth and enhances gender equality.

Significance & Celebrations

World Health Day celebration focuses on increasing the life expectancy by adding good health to the lives of people and promoting healthier living habits. WHO supports various health authorities on global basis to make their own efforts for the public health problems to enhance better life without any diseases caused by parasites and pathogens. Some of the main objectives of why it is celebrated yearly is to increase the public awareness of various causes and prevention of high blood pressure and to encourage most vulnerable group of people to frequently check their blood pressure and follow medications from the professionals. To also provide detail knowledge of getting prevented from various diseases and their complications and to promote self-care among people.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2018 03:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).