WHO Director-General on World Health Day 2019
“Today, half the world’s population cannot access essential health services. Millions of women give birth without help from a skilled attendant; millions of children miss out on vaccinations against killer diseases, and millions suffer and die because they can’t get treatment for HIV, TB, and malaria,” said a statement released by the WHO Director-General on World Health Day 2019.
This year’s nominated theme is Universal health coverage (UHC): everyone, everywhere. The campaign draws on two key areas of focus – providing good medical care despite economic hardships and accessibility – whenever and wherever. The essential feature of this coverage is to ensure quality health services to all communities and people.
Apart from that, it intends to provide people with a strong primary healthcare facility that focuses on prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
Just being free of illness is not a sign of good health but being fit in all aspects signifies healthiness. To highlight this fact, 7th of April, in the year 1950 was declared World Health Day by the World Health Organisation. This annual day under WHO’s leadership commemorates a comprehensive umbrella event that does not target a specific disease but raises awareness on the importance of overall health.
“Around 2.4 million lives are lost to treatable conditions every year in India. Coronary artery disease (8.76 million people), stroke that can lead to brain injury or disability (6.24 million people) and lower respiratory infections by viruses and bacteria (3.19 million) are the three deadliest causes of deaths in the world,” say the research and statistics of the World Health Organization.
Over the years, WHO’s work has persisted towards awareness campaigns and eradication of preventable diseases like smallpox and polio from the world. It is also on the verge of removing Rubella, mumps, measles (MMR), the highly infectious respiratory disease that has potentially severe to permanent complications and could prove fatal.
