World Health Day: April 7

Every year the World Health Day is celebrated by the World Health Organization on April 7. This year, the World Health Day is celebrated under the following theme

Theme: Building a fairer, healthier World for everyone

World Health Day

• The World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 as the World Health Organisation held its first World Health Assembly on April 7, 1948.
• The World Health day is seen as an opportunity to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year.
• The first World Health Day was observed in 1950.
• The World Health Day is one of the eleven official global health campaigns of WHO.

Global Health Campaigns of WHO

The eleven Global Health Campaigns of WHO are as follows:

• World Tuberculosis Day
• World Malaria Day
• World Immunization Day
• World No Tobacco Day
• World Blood Donor Day
• World AIDS Day
• World Chagas Disease Day
• World Hepatitis Day
• World Antimicrobial Awareness Week
• World Patient Safety Day

World Health Assembly

• The World Health Assembly is governed by 194 member states. It is composed of health ministers from the member states and is the highest health policy setting body in the world.
• The World Health Organization is governed through the World Health Assembly.
• The current chairperson of World Health Assembly is Dr Harsh Vardhan. He is the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in India.
• The main tasks of World Health Assembly are to decide major policy question and approve WHO work programme and budget.

Major Action plans of World Health Assembly

• The worldwide eradication of smallpox was endorsed in 1959 and achieved in 1980.
• Worldwide eradication of polio was endorsed in 1988. India has been declared polio free under the action plan.
• Control of harmful use of alcohol was endorsed in 2010.
• Global Actions for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases was endorsed in 2011.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2012