Good health is one
of the most important ingredients for a happy and productive life. And yet, many
people do not have access to health care and live in conditions that spread disease.
Nearly 11 million children die before they reach their 5th birthday and each year
half a million women die in pregnancy or childbirth. Most of these deaths can
be prevented!
World
Health Day, on April 7, is an opportunity to highlight the progress that has been
made to create a safer, healthier world and the steps that still need to be taken.
This day commemorates the creation on April 7, 1948 of the World Health Organization
(WHO), the United Nations' specialized agency for health.
World
Health Day is a good time to debate the issue of 'universal health care.' In 1948,
one of the declarations in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated that
all people should have access to the medical care they need to lead healthy lives.
Today, the United States is the only major industrialized country that does not
provide health care for all of its citizens.
World
Health Day is also a time to remind governments about their commitment to focus
on health issues in the Millennium Development Goals, which all of the World's
leaders agreed to at the United Nations in the year 2000. All nations have pledged
to specific goals in reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and fighting
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by the year 2015. Some progress been made,
but much more needs to be done.
On
World Health Day thousands of global activities take place to re-ignite interest
from the public, organizations, media and governments to focus attention on sustainable
activities throughout the year to create a healthier world for all, and to remind
us that 'good health' is more than just the absence of disease - it is a state
of complete physical, mental and social well-being.
