World Health Day

The World Health Day is celebrated, every year, on 7th of April under the leadership of World Health Organisation (WHO) to draw attention towards the importance of global health. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the healing power of science and also highlighted the inequities in our world. This pandemic has also revealed the weaknesses in all areas of society, and at the same time underlined the urgency of creating sustainable well-being societies committed to achieving equitable health now and for future generations without breaching ecological limits.

This Day aims to create awareness of specific health themes and over the past 5 decades, this day has brought to light important health issues such as: mental health, maternal and child care, and climate change. Among other issues, this day reminds world leaders to monitor health inequities, and to ensure that all people are able to access quality health services when and where they need them.

WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes. Time has come to focus the global attention on urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to create societies focused on well-being. Hence, the theme for the World Health Day is ‘Our planet, our health’ and it centers on the link between the health of our planet and the health of humans, animals, plants, all living creatures.

Recognising the importance of health issues, we, at the World Assembly of Youth (WAY), believe that healthy youth are more productive and willing to help with the development of their societies and communities. This is vital in order to achieve national and global targets related to universal health coverage, maternal and child health, infectious and non-communicable diseases including mental health, emergency preparedness and response, patient safety and the delivery of integrated, people-centred care, amongst others.

Therefore, let us encourage all member organisations to strengthen the capacity of their countries for early warning, reduction and management of health risks in national, regional, and global levels. We are calling for young people to support the World Health Day and ensure that everyone, everywhere gets the healthcare they need.

The climate crisis is also a health crisis. On this Day let us work towards building a fairer and healthier planet.

Happy World Health Day!