WORLD HEALTH DAY
World Health Day – April 7
World Health Day, observed annually on April 7, marks the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. It serves as a global platform to raise awareness about pressing health issues. Each year, a specific theme highlights key challenges in public health, such as universal healthcare, mental health, infectious diseases, and climate change’s impact on health. The day encourages governments, organizations, and individuals to take action toward improving healthcare systems, promoting healthy lifestyles, and ensuring health equity worldwide. By fostering awareness and advocacy, World Health Day plays a crucial role in shaping policies and driving positive change in global health.
Resources
Health for All
World Health Day 2023, with the theme “Health for All,” aligns with the mission of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) to support health professionals, non-government organizations, and governments around the world in their work to prevent, investigate, and manage infectious disease outbreaks when they occur. ISID has a particular focus on countries that have limited resources and which disproportionately bear the burden of infectious diseases.
Health For All
A blog post written by ISID Emerging Leader, Esmita Charani
April 7th is World Health Day. The focus of this day is Health For All. The premise of this day is to emphasise the need for equity in health access and use globally, recognising that good health and healthcare is a human right and not a privilege of only those who can afford it. The reality of course is that we need a world health day because of the persisting inequities which hinder access to good health and health care to many across the world. Socioeconomic and demographic divisions in societies everywhere and lack of political investment continue to hinder the vision of universal healthcare for all, everywhere. In this space of inequities and inaccessibility to effective healthcare, many initiatives are born that aim to do well. Including the concept of global health.
My Health, My Right
The theme of World Health Day 2024, celebrated on April 7, is “My health, my right.” It has been recognized around the world that the right to health is increasingly being threatened - the factors are many, ranging from conflicts to climate change, all coming together to make health elusive to many people. Lower-resource settings are increasingly affected compared to high-resource settings.
World Health Day: Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures
World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on April 7th under the World Health Organization's sponsorship as it marks its foundation's anniversary. This year's theme, "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures," focuses on maternal and newborn health and survival to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and prioritize women's long-term health and well-being.