World Health Day 2016: Beat Diabetes

World Health Day is celebrated every year on 7th April across the world. The day marks the beginning of World Health Organization (WHO). The aim of the day is to draw attention of the people towards important global health issues.

WHO or World health Organization, is a working body under the UN which deals with issues and emergencies related to health on a global scale. It was founded on 7th April 1948 in Geneva and there it was decided to celebrate the World Health Day annually on 7^th of April. It was first celebrated globally in the year 1950. Ever since, WHO has come with a variety of themes for the Day.  Many events related to the theme are organized on the international and national level by the WHO. The 2016 theme for World Health Day is ‘Beat Diabetes’.

One of the most successful World Health Day themes has been Global Polio Eradication which was adopted in 1995. Since then, the awareness of people towards polio has increased and many parts of the world have been freed from the dreaded disease. Other important themes adopted by WHO for the day have been Emerging Infectious Diseases in 1997, Safe Motherhood in 1998, Move for Health in 2002, International Health Security in 2007 etc.

World Health Day 2016: Beat Diabetes

WHO is focusing World Health Day, on 7 April 2016, on diabetes. The key messages of WHO are:

1. The diabetes epidemic is rapidly increasing in many countries, with the documented increase most dramatic in low- and middle-income countries.

2. A large proportion of diabetes cases are preventable. Simple lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. Maintaining normal body weight, engaging in regular physical activity, and eating a healthy diet can reduce the risk of diabetes.

3. Diabetes is treatable. Diabetes can be controlled and managed to prevent complications. Increasing access to diagnosis, self-management education and affordable treatment are vital components of the response.

4. Efforts to prevent and treat diabetes will be important to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goal 3 target of reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030. Many sectors of society have a role to play, including governments, employers, educators, manufacturers, civil society, private sector, the media and individuals themselves.

Read: Myths and Facts about Diabetes

Goal of World Health Day 2016: Scale up prevention, strengthen care, and enhance surveillance

The main goals of the World Health Day 2016 campaign are:

1. Increase awareness about the rise in diabetes, and its staggering burden and consequences, in particular in low-and middle-income countries;

2. Trigger a set of specific, effective and affordable actions to tackle diabetes. These will include steps to prevent diabetes and diagnose, treat and care for people with diabetes; and

3. Launch the first Global report on diabetes, which will describe the burden and consequences of diabetes and advocate for stronger health systems to ensure improved surveillance, enhanced prevention, and more effective management of diabetes.

Stay Fit and Healthy

If you wish to live long, you need to keep yourself fit and healthy. And this is something which most of the people ignore due to their busy lives and hectic work schedules. But do you know that there are just little things you can do every day to keep yourself fit. Have a look:

1. Never skip your breakfast as it maintains your blood sugar levels and helps you avoid over-indulgence later in the day.

2. Drink lots of water to keep you hydrated. It is a natural cleanser for your body.

3. Eat healthy and stay fit.

4. Get enough sleep as lack of sleep affects both our physical and mental health.

5. Exercise is very important to stay fit and healthy.

15 Best Quotes on Health

To celebrate World Health Day and understand the importance of health, here are some beautiful quotes:

1. “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” – World Health Organization, 1948
2. “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” – Irish Proverb
3. “Joy and Temperance and Repose/ Slam the door on the doctor’s nose.” –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
4. “In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.” – Unknown
5. “If I’d known I was going to live so long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” –Leon Eldred
6. “A sad soul can kill you quicker than a germ.” –John Steinbeck
7. “He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.” – Arabic Proverb
8. “I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.” –Johnny Carson
9. “Sickness comes on horseback but departs on foot.” – Dutch Proverb
10. “The awareness that health is dependent upon habits that we control makes us the first generation in history that to a large extent determines its own destiny.” –Jimmy Carter
11. “Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.” –Norman Cousins
12. “A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.” –Tom Stoppard
13. “I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” – Joyce Meyer
14. “In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties.” –Henri-Frederic Amiel
15. “Early to bed and early to rise makes man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – 18th Century proverb

Stay Healthy! Stay Happy!