April 7 is observed as World Health Day. It marks the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Every year, the World Health Day is observed to draw public attention towards a specific health related topic.
World Health Day significance
The theme of World Health Day 2022 is "Our Planet, Our Health". Every year, the WHO highlights a new health topic that needs serious attention.
In 2021, when the world was struggling to free itself from the clutches of the coronavirus, the WHO World Health Day theme was "Building a fairer, healthier world". Before that, in 2020, it was "Support Nurses and Midwives".
"Today is #WorldHealthDay!
Environmental factors - including climate change - claim 13 million lives every year.
Stop burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas for a #HealthierTomorrow," the global health agency has urged people.
"Well-being societies are healthy societies"
"In the midst of a pandemic, a polluted planet, increasing diseases like cancer, asthma, heart disease, on World Health Day 2022, WHO will focus global attention on urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to create societies focused on well-being," says an official statement from the WHO.
A healthy society is the need of the hour as more than 13 million deaths worldwide are caused due to environmental causes of which climate crisis is one of the biggest threats mankind is facing.
History of World Health Day
In 1948, the WHO held the first Health Assembly. Two years later, it was decided that April 7 will be observed as World Health Day. This day not only marks the WHO's founding, it also draws global attention towards healthcare.
Including the World Health Day, the WHO campaigns for several other health causes: World Malaria Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World No Tobacco Day, World AIDS Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Chagas Disease Day, World Patient Safety Day, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week and World Hepatitis Day, World Hand Hygiene Day, World Food Safety Day, World Suicide Prevention Day among many.
