World Health Day being observed today

KARACHI: The World Health Day is being observed on Sunday (today) to create awareness about their right to access to the highest level of health services.

The theme of the day is “Universal Health Coverage for Primary Health Care with a focus on equity and solidarity”.

In his message on the day, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called for addressing the broader determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors.

“I pay tribute to health workers all over the world who are working to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable”, he said and especially thank the dedicated personnel from WHO and our partners who are working around the clock in extreme circumstances, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Yemen. .

The very first World Health Day was commemorated in 1950. In 1948, World Health Organization’s subsidiary WHO Health Assembly gave its assent to mark April 7th each year as the World Health Day. Ever since then, each year, April 7 is referred to as World Health Day.

It should be kept in mind that each year, thousands of Pakistanis perish due to non-availability of hygienic drinking water. Malnutrition also claims many lives throughout the year hence the importance of food safety awareness in the country, cannot be stressed enough.