World Health Day is celebrated each year on 7th April. It started in 1950 with the aim of creating awareness of a specific health theme that highlights an area of particular concern for the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This year, the theme is “building a fairer, healthier world for everyone”, a fitting slogan after a challenging year dealing with a pandemic that has impacted every one of us on a global scale. Past themes include “support nurses and midwives” (2020), “health for all: everyone, everywhere” (2019) and “universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere”.
In this year-long campaign, the WHO aims to eliminate health inequalities by calling on global leaders to act and place communities at the forefront of decision-making. Pressing issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change threaten to amplify poverty levels, food insecurity and health inequalities. Building an awareness of the major global health issues is more important than ever in tackling discrepancies in access to basic health care across the world. And it’s not just issues in far away countries. Some of these health issues are much closer to home, something we’ve all become acutely aware of over the last year.
From vaccines and the anti-science movement to our planet’s health and shout-outs to local medical heroes, there’s a lot of subjects around health being discussed today on Twitter. Here’s a look at some of the stories, facts and projects that are coming from all corners of the world in response to the 2021 World Health Day, starting with some facts and information:
There are discussions on the anti-science movement and the importance of vaccines:
As well as talks about the link between the environment, nature and global health:
And of course, all the shout-outs to our incredible healthcare workers and researchers.
Want to join in the discussion on World Health Day? Let us know your thoughts of global and local health in the comments below.
