Introduction: The World Health Day is celebrated around the world on the 7th of April in each year, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other related organizations. This day has especially been dedicated to spreading awareness about the importance of good health in our life. Its importance is emphasized by way of various activities held on this day.
The history of World Health Day dates back to 1948. The World Health Organization felt the need to involve prominent medical practitioners from around the world to take key decisions related to various health matters. For this purpose, it held a World Health Assembly in 1948. This was the first World Health Assembly and it consisted of as many as 194 member states. WHO is governed by its member states that have been selected to form the world’s highest health policy-setting body. The health ministers of the member states are a part of this body.
The Assembly decided to celebrate 7th April of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day. The World Health Day is held to mark WHO’s founding and is seen as an opportunity by the organization to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year.
Activities of World Health Day: World Health Day is acknowledged by various governments and non-governmental organizations with interests in public health issues, who also organize activities and highlight their support in media reports, such as the Global Health Council. The ‘WHO’ organizes international, regional and local events on the Day related to a particular theme.
Here is a look at the World Health Day activities performed at different platforms:
Activities in Schools/Colleges –
Many schools, colleges, and other educational institutions in different parts of the world make it a point to involve their students in different activities on World Health Day. The aim of involving the students in these activities is to make future generations realize the importance of health and the ways to lead a healthy life. Fun activities are organized and the students are specially made aware of the importance of indulging in outdoor games and avoiding mobile or computer games.
Social Media/Mass Media Activities –
Health campaigns are run by way of newspapers, radio, and television. Short stories to emphasize the importance of health are published in newspapers. Interviews of health practitioners and nutritionists are also published in newspapers and magazines. These efforts are made to sensitize people about the significance of leading a healthy lifestyle. With the advent of social media, the number of World Health Day activities has increased manifolds. Several pages are initiated and many interesting games and other activities involving the masses sprung up on different social media platforms on this occasion. People these days are hooked to social media and thus these activities see active participation.
Activities at Hospitals –
Hospitals organize special health care camps on this day. Exclusive health check-up offers are made available to people to encourage them to get their check-up done and diagnose any health issue in time. Hospitals run campaigns to emphasize the need to get regular health check-ups done.
Activities at NGOs –
NGOs also organize health camps on World Health Day to help the needy. Many doctors, nurses and other professionals volunteer to make such activities a success. Such camps are mostly organized in remote areas where people are not much aware of the ways to keep their health intact.
Emphasize on Good Health:
By way of various activities that form a part of the World Health Day celebration, the emphasis is laid on the need to follow a healthy lifestyle to live a wholesome life. Here are the key highlights of these events and activities:
Avoid Junk Food – In modern times, we need everything fast and readymade and thus we have become addicted to fast food that can be grabbed easily and is good to taste. The World Health Day activities particularly lay stress upon the need to give up on junk food and switch to healthier food options.
Give-up Sedentary Lifestyle – Our jobs today are such that we require sitting in front of the laptop for hours at a stretch. Even after we go back home we are hooked to our television screens or mobiles. Children are also seen glued to televisions and tablets. This is the root cause of various diseases. Children must indulge in outdoor games such as cricket, football, and badminton rather than sitting at home. Adults must also indulge in physical activities such as running, jogging, cycling, etc. This is good for both our physical and mental health.
Importance of World Health Day: The importance of World Health Day was felt owing to the increasing number of diseases and illnesses around the world. Numerous infectious diseases spring up every now and then in various parts of the world and spread like epidemics. This creates panic among people and the media adds fuel to this fear. By way of the activities held on World Health Day people are made aware of various diseases and the ways to avoid/ handle them. A theme is set for each World Health Day. The theme covers a particular health concern. The World Health Day activities revolve around the chosen theme.
Activities are also held to point out the importance of health in general. People are encouraged to give up on their modern sedentary lifestyle and opt for a healthy lifestyle which involves a healthy diet and exercise.
Conclusion: The main purpose of celebrating World Health Day is to ensure global health by sensitizing its need among the masses. Different innovative World Health Day activities are held for this purpose on this day. This is indeed a great initiative by the World Health Organization.
World Health Day is one of eight official global health campaigns marked by World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World AIDS Day, World Blood Donor Day, and World Hepatitis Day.
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