Every year on April 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) chooses current wellness or medical theme to highlight. This day sets the tone for what’s to come on the global stage, with topics ranging from mental health to insurance and everything in between. Nurses and midwives, the on-call, restless workforce who revolutionized the healthcare industry as we know it today, will be honored on World Health Day this year.
On April 7, World Health Day honors the inestimable value of good health. On this day, the World Health Organization (WHO) promotes and celebrates physical, mental, and emotional well-being all over the world.
Theme 2021
This year’s theme is “Building a Fairer, Healthier World for All.” The key to living a healthy lifestyle is to maintain a balance of physical and mental health. You are not alone if you feel compelled to make healthy lifestyle changes. Simple dietary and lifestyle changes can help you improve your overall health.
History
To discuss World Health Day, we must first discuss the establishment of the World Health Organization as a whole. Officials from Brazil and China proposed the establishment of an international health organization that would be all-encompassing and completely independent of any government powers in December 1945.
The World Health Organization’s constitution was approved half a year later, in July 1946, in New York. On April 7, 1948, the NGO’s constitution went into effect after 61 countries signed an agreement to establish it.
World Health Day was established as one of the first official acts of the WHO. It was first observed on July 22, 1949, but the date was eventually revised to April 7, the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization, to motivate students’ engagement.
Since 1950, each year’s Worth Health Day has had a different theme chosen by the current WHO Director-General based on recommendations from government officials and assistants. World Health Day is a global event that brings attention to important public health issues affecting the entire world. Promotional programs are launched on April 7th in honor of World Health Day and they last for a long time.
Important Stats on World Health Day
- 70% – women make up the majority of social and healthcare workers
- The number of people who live on $1.90 a day or less is 100 million
- In 2017, 800 million people spent a significant portion of their household budget on healthcare
- In 2019, 20.6 percent of adults in the United States were diagnosed with a serious mental illness
- 6.6 million – the number of children who die each year as a result of inadequate healthcare systems around the world
- Every day, 800 women die as a result of pregnancy complications
- The amount spent on Halloween in 2018 was $8.4 billion, which is more than the world spends on malaria prevention
- The average age of children in Zambia who die from malaria is five years old
- The number of children who die from diarrhea around the world is 2195
- The number of people in America who suffer from mental health and addiction disorders is 10.2 million
World Health Day Around the Globe
| Country | Holiday | Occasion | Date |
| Canada | FND Awareness Day | A day for raising awareness of Functional Neurological Disorder. | April 13 |
| South Africa | Pregnancy Awareness Week | This observance aims to strengthen pregnancy education and stress important issues that promote a healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood. | February 10–16 |
| Vietnam | Doctors’ Day | Celebrating doctors and their valuable services. | February 27 |
| India | National Deworming Day | The day aims at eradicating intestinal worms also known as Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH), among children in the age group of 1-19 years. | February 10 |
The Day’s Tradition
People all over the world have been advocating for health issues and access to healthcare on World Health Day since its inception. Every year for World Health Day, the World Health Organization has a different theme which is highlighted in schools, seminars, workshops, and discussion forums. The goal of the day is to raise awareness about the health problems that the poor and less fortunate face in poor countries around the world, as well as to remind us to be grateful for our own health and to take better care of ourselves.
Covid-19 and World Health Day
For all of us in the healthcare industry and society as a whole, the year 2020 has been a disaster. In many ways, the healthcare industry bore the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on all countries, but it has been particularly severe in those communities that were already vulnerable, as they are more susceptible to the disease, have less access to quality health care, and are more likely to suffer negative consequences as a result of pandemic-fighting measures.
That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging leaders to ensure that everyone has access to healthy living and working conditions. At the same time, WHO urges leaders to keep an eye on health disparities and ensure that everyone has access to high-quality health care when and where they need it.
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