World Health Day-W.H.O. Celebrates an Anniversary

When the United Nations was formed in 1945, replacing the League of Nations, its purpose was to provide a platform for dialogue between countries to put an end to war. This was on the heels of the victory over Hitler in World War II.

Three years later, on April 7, 1948, the World Health Organization, (W.H.O.), celebrated the signing of their agency’s constitution. Their focus was to provide global health care and human rights for all people of the world. Today is the sixty-third year of celebration. Today we celebrate World Health Day.

I was ten years old when I first became aware of the United Nations. I was a fourth grade student collecting for UNICEF, (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), in my neighborhood during Halloween. It was, as I felt then, a lofty task. I felt of service to people who lived very different lives from my own, in very different countries. It was not my first realization of this international connection to all, but it was the first awareness that I had the ability to make a difference.

Decades later, as I stood peering into the conference center in the United Nations building, in Geneva, Switzerland, I was moved by the intention that was represented by each of the country’s flags standing in a circle-a collective group from around the world trying to make a difference in the quality of life for everyone. Today, I still hold the beliefs that we, individually, have the capacity and power to change the world, one person at a time.

W.H.O. has done a remarkable job, in my opinion, working diligently throughout very changing times. The organization has made a difference in the health and welfare of all, especially in countries with poverty and no political clout to stand up for their needs.

Through W.H.O. all people, no matter what their economic or social status is, have the right to a healthy, disease free life. This means that in countries that are too poor to afford the type of health care that you and I take for granted, there are clinics set up to provide medicine, vaccines, dental care, health education, and so much more.

It was a profound accomplishment when, through the research, environmental changes, vaccines, and education about infection and disease, the small pox virus was eradicated in 1979. Billions of people have benefited from the long, arduous, but methodical, implementation of health standards that were provided by W.H.O. That is just one of their accomplishments. But, with today’s new superbugs, W.H.O. has another mission: to combat drug resistant infections.

Over six decades have passed since the medicinal benefits of antibiotics were first used. Since that time our bodies have become immune to the efficacy of these overused drugs. Antibiotics have surpassed their intended use and have commonly been prescribed to treat anything from a lingering head cold or sinus infection, to other grave conditions, such as sepsis.

It is our responsibility, as consumers, tax payers, and citizens of the world, to help promote awareness of this problem. W.H.O. is focused on the future when they speak of concern that a global crisis is eminent if we are not judicious with our medicinal choices right now. As stated by the W.H.O. information page, “no action today means no cure tomorrow.” (1). We cannot allow ourselves to fall into a state of apathy and ignorance.