World Health Day

        On this day in 1948, the United Nations fulfilled its ambition to create a global health body in a bid to make the world safer and to serve those most in need. Every year since, the date has been observed as World Health Day. In the African region, the noteworthy milestone of WHO’s 75th anniversary provides an opportunity to celebrate the many public health successes that have significantly improved quality of life over the years. It also serves as a poignant moment to redouble commitment to tackling the current and future health challenges confronting the region and steering it towards a brighter tomorrow. But for all the hard-won gains that have been made over the past 75 years, more than 100 health emergencies still occur in the African Region annually, including outbreaks of cholera, yellow fever, meningitis, measles and Ebola. These emergencies still pose a significant threat to the health, well-being and development of African countries. The COVID-19...

  Today we are celebrating World Health Day, as we do every year on April 7th, but we are also honoring the World Health Organization on the 75th anniversary of its creation. This is a great opportunity to highlight the achievements made in recent decades, the major advances in public health that have improved the quality of people's lives, and the lessons learned, while recognizing the challenges that lie ahead. Health for All has been our top objective throughout all these years. And despite the tremendous progress we have made, inequities persist in the Region of the Americas and have been exacerbated by COVID-19. The pandemic has significantly impacted people's health and lives, as well as the conditions for development in the countries of the Region. It has exposed and deepened structural challenges faced by health systems, affecting response capacity and deepening inequities. During the crisis, essential health services were disrupted and those receiving COVID-19 patients...

  In 1948, countries of the world came together and founded WHO to promote health , keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and well-being.The WHO’s 75th anniversary year is an opportunity to look back at public health successes that have improved quality of life during the last seven decades . It is also an opportunity to motivate action to tackle the health challenges of today and tomorrow. Join PAHO and WHO on a journey to achieve  Health For All.

On 5 April, join us to celebrate  #WorldHealthDay  2023 with a  high-level dialogue . The  OPS/PAHO  and health ministers of the region of the Americas will  discuss strategies to advance primary health care and achieve Health For All . On April 7th, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) will celebrate its  75th anniversary  and  World Health Day 2023 . In this context, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) organized a high-level dialogue entitled Health for All: Strengthening Primary Health Care to Build Resilient Systems. The virtual event, to be held on  Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 , aims to promote reflection on public health achievements that have improved quality of life over the past decades; promote lessons learned, particularly those that have emerged in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; and motivate action to address today's and tomorrow's health challenges. Health for all , in the context of the Region of the...

The World Health Organization ( WHO)'s 75th anniversary is an opportunity to look back at public  health  successes that have improved quality of life during the last seven decades.  It is also an opportunity to motivate action to tackle the health challenges of today ̶ and tomorrow . Join WHO on a journey to achieve Health For All! 75 years of improving public health.

Focusing on the journey to achieving Health For All,

The right to health is a basic human right. Everyone must have access to the health services they need when and where they need them without financial hardship. The right to health was again recognized as a human right in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Impoverishing expenditure is defined as directout of pocket payments for surgical and anaesthesia care which drivepeople below the extreme poverty threshold.

Almost two billion people face catastrophic or impoverishing health spending, with significant inequalities affecting those in the most vulnerable settings . Progress on impoverishing health spending in 122 countries. We estimate that in 2010, 97 million people were impoverished by out-of-pocket spending on health care at the $1·90 per day poverty line

Universal health coverage (UHC) offers financial protection and access to quality essential services , lifts people out of poverty, promotes the well-being of families and communities , protects against public health crises, and moves us toward #HealthForAll.

To make health for all a reality , we need: individuals and communities who hav e access to high quality health services so that they can take care of their own health and that of their families; skilled health workers providing quality, people-centred care ; and policy-makers committed to investing in universal health coverage .                    

Evidence shows that health systems powered by a primary health care (PHC) approach is the most effective and cost-effective way to bring services for health and well-being closer to people.

COVID-19 set back every country’s journey to #HealthForAll. World Health Day 2023 - "Health for All." - PAHO/WHO.

  COVID-19 and other health emergencies, overlapping humanitarian and climate crises, economic constraints, and war, have made every country's journey to #HealthForAll more urgent. Now is the time for leaders to take action to meet their universal health coverage commitments and for civil society to hold leaders accountable.

The health goal ( SDG 3 ) is broad: ' Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages '. The SDG declaration emphasizes that to achieve the overall health goal, ' we must achieve universal health coverage (UHC) and access to quality health care . No one must be left behind '.

In medicine, the amount of money a patient pays for medical expenses that are not covered by a health insurance plan. Out-of-pocket costs include deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, and costs for non-covered healthcare services. Increasing public financing for health and lowering out-of-pocket health costs saves lives while advancing the Sustainable Development Goals beyond health.

Universal health coverage is a political and social choice. It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. We need strong political leadership and public demand.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends increases in “health taxes” on tobacco, alcohol, added sugar, and fossil fuels. These taxes bring in much needed public revenues.                   

  Between 2023-2030 there is a projected shortfall of 10 million health workers worldwide. Investment in education and job creation for the health sector is needed.