World Health Day 2024: My Health, My Right

Every year on April 7th, the global community marks World Health Day to honor the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948.

The pivotal day serves not only as a reminder of the importance of health and well-being but also as a call to action to address the myriad of health challenges facing the world today.

The theme of World Health Day 2024 is ‘My Health, My Right,’ which reaffirms the WHO’s commitment to health being a right for all people, and not a luxury.

Despite significant advancements in healthcare and technology, millions of people worldwide still lack access to essential health services.

While at least 140 countries recognize the right to health in their own constitutions, for billions of people, this right is often out of reach, unrealized or under threat.

According to the 2023 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Global Monitoring Report jointly published by the WHO and World Bank, over the past two decades, less than a third of countries improved health service coverage and reduced devastating out-of-pocket health spending.

In 2021, approximately 4.5 billion people, which is more than half of the world’s population, were not fully covered by essential health services.

The SCI (the world development indicator “UHC service coverage index”) ranks countries on a scale of zero to 100, with higher numbers indicating greater service coverage.

While the global UHC SCI score increased from 45 to 68 between 2000 and 2021, there was a stagnating pace of improvement in recent years. Concerningly, there was no change in the global SCI score between 2019 and 2021.

Despite the gains in service coverage globally over the past two decades, the stagnation in the progress towards providing people everywhere with quality, affordable and accessible healthcare will have significant consequences worldwide. A recent example of this is the COVID-19 pandemic in which we saw the critical importance of accessible and affordable healthcare in curbing death and devastation. Given how globally interconnected the world is today, people are not isolated from each other, which makes global health an important priority.

My Health, My Right

Ahead of World Health Day 2024, the WHO released a video as part of the campaign, which underscores the message that when it comes to access to health services, “no one should be excluded.”

The video contains scenes of people from all over the world, many of whom are “unheard, unsupported, unsafe,” which the video says is “unacceptable.”

The video also highlights that freedom from violence and discrimination, a healthy environment, decent work, informed consent, autonomy over one’s body and access to quality health services are a right everyone should have.

“Health is a right for all, not a privilege for some,” according to some of the final messages of the video.

The theme underscores the critical need to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their socio-economic status, has access to quality health services without experiencing financial hardship.

Realizing the right to health means passing and implementing laws to ensure people can access the health services they need, where and when they need them, without financial hardship. And it means addressing the reasons people get sick and die.

It means safe drinking water, clean air and good nutrition; quality housing and decent working and environmental conditions; and freedom from discrimination.

The Urgency of the Matter

Health inequities threaten the social and economic development of communities and nations. They stem from various factors, including poverty, environmental threats, inadequate access to healthcare and educational inequalities. The theme for World Health Day 2024 acknowledges that achieving health equity requires addressing these underlying determinants of health.

This World Health Day, organizations like the WHO have put out a call for all people to know and advocate for health rights for themselves and for everyone else.

Key Objectives of World Health Day 2024

• Promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC): UHC means that all individuals and communities receive the healthcare they need without suffering financial hardship. It includes the full spectrum of essential, quality health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.
• Address Social Determinants of Health: There’s a push to address the root causes of health inequities, such as poverty, education and living conditions, ensuring a holistic approach to health and well-being.
• Strengthen Health Systems: Improving health infrastructure, ensuring an adequate workforce and enhancing the availability and quality of medicines and technologies are crucial to increasing access to healthcare.
• Foster Innovation and Technology: Leveraging digital health solutions can play a significant role in making healthcare more accessible and efficient, especially in underserved areas.

The World’s Health and Global Solidarity

World Health Day 2024 emphasizes the importance of global solidarity and action. The pandemic has shown that health challenges are interconnected and can only be overcome through collective effort. Governments, organizations and individuals must work together to share knowledge, resources and solutions to build a healthier world for everyone.

How to Get Involved

Individuals and communities can participate in World Health Day 2024 by:

• Educating themselves and others about health equity and access.
• Advocating for policies that promote health equity and support UHC.
• Participating in local health initiatives and volunteering for health-related causes.
• Supporting organizations working to improve health access and equity.

World Health Day 2024 serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of health equity and access. It calls on everyone to play a part in building a healthier, more equitable world. By focusing on universal health coverage, addressing social determinants of health and fostering global solidarity, we can ensure that everyone, everywhere, has the opportunity to live a healthy life.

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