Today is World Health Day. It falls on 7 April every year – the purpose is to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year. In 2018, it is one of 9 official campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).
* This article first appeared in HalenessMe2018.wordpress.com.
At least half of the world’s people is currently unable to obtain essential health services. Almost 100 million people are being pushed into extreme poverty, forced to survive on just US$1.90 or less a day, because they have to pay for health services out of their own pockets.
“Health for All” has been the WHO’s guiding vision for seven decades, since the Organization’s Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948.
In this 70th anniversary year, WHO is calling on world leaders to live up to the pledges they made when they agreed in 2015 on the UN’s “Sustainable Development Goals”, and commit to concrete steps to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030.
