Date: Wednesday, 7th April 2021; 73nd Anniversary.
Sponsor: World Health Organization (WHO)
Objectives: World Health Day is observed to “create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization”. It is seen as an opportunity to draw worldwide attention to an important aspect of global health each year.
Inception: It was officially celebrated for the first time in 1949.
In 1948, World Health Day was launched at the First World Health Assembly. The World Health Day was first observed on July 22, 1949, but the date was changed to April 7 in 1950. Since then, it is annually held on April 7 to mark the establishment of WHO.
World Health Day is one of 11 official global health campaigns marked by WHO. The other 10 global health campaigns are:
- World Tuberculosis Day,
- World Immunization Week,
- World Malaria Day,
- World No Tobacco Day,
- World AIDS Day,
- World Blood Donor Day,
- World Chagas Disease Day,
- World Patient Safety Day,
- World Antimicrobial Awareness Week,
- World Hepatitis Day.
How to celebrate the Day
Learn, share, and actions!
Since 1950, World Health Day is annually acknowledged by various governments and non-governmental organizations with interests in public health issues. On that day, a range of educational and promotional events, including seminars, lectures, conferences, forums, and social media campaigns, were hosted to raise awareness of health-related issues.
Each year a particular theme relevant to health is proposed by the WHO to promote awareness and share innovative actions.
Annual theme in previous years:
2020 theme: “Support Nurses and Midwives”
2019 theme: “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere”
2018 theme: “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere”
2017 theme: “Depression: Let’s Talk”
2016 theme: “Beating Diabetes”
2015 theme: “Food Safety”
Official websites:
https://www.who.int/westernpacific/news/events/world-health-day
