World Health Day is a global health awareness day and is sponsored by the World Health Organisation and is observed by all member states of the United Nations. It has been celebrated on the7th of April every year since 1950. and each year it has a different theme or goal. The aim of the day is to draw the attention of the global community to a particular theme, previous themes have been; depression(2017), diabetes(2016) and food safety(2015). This year the theme is Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere. The aim of this year’s theme is to give universal healthcare to everyone on the planet without them having the fear of financial burden.
Universal Health Coverage means that any person in the world can obtain the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship.There is merit to this years theme, it is estimated that half of the world’s population does not have access to essential health services. This is severely affecting the global population with over one billion people living with uncontrolled/managed hypertension (high blood pressure), 200 million women not having access to family planning services and more than 20 million children not receiving necessary immunisation. Poverty is another issue going to be talked about today with health expenses being a growing factor in families going into poverty, with over 100 million people falling into poverty.
Further Reading
WHO – Universal Health Coverage Fact Sheet
WHO – Cost of Health Coverage Fact Sheet
WHO – Cost of Health Coverage Infographic
