World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7.
This year’s World Health Day theme is “Healthy Beginnings: Hopeful Future” .
This will urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritize women’s longer-term health and well-being.
From its inception at the First Health Assembly in 1948 and since taking effect in 1950, the celebration has aimed to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization. Over the past 50 years this has brought to light important health issues such as mental health, maternal and childcare, and climate change.
The celebration is marked by activities which extend beyond the day itself and serves as an opportunity to focus worldwide attention on these important aspects of global health. WHO has given a target to reduce maternal mortality across the World to less than 70 of every 100 thousand (1 lakh ) of childbirth and the infant mortality to less than 10 of every 1000 of live births by the year 2030. But WHO has expressed concern that 4 out every 5 countries in the World do not seem to achieve the target of reduction in the maternal mortality rate. This figure is 3 out of every 4 countries in respect of reduction in infant mortality.
All agencies working in the field, regardless of being governmental or non-governmental are requested to gear up and work together to achieve the target. So far as our country is concerned, the scenario is somewhat satisfactory. At the time of independence, the maternal mortality was 2000 per 100000 of childbirth which came down to 97 in the year 2020. The infant mortality rate (death of infant within one year of the birth) was 147 in 1947, but it has come down to less than 30 now. The Government has expressed its commitment to achieve the target as given by the WHO. But strong motivation and dedicated efforts are needed to achieve the target within a time period of 5 years hence.
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