World Health Day is commemorated each year on April 7th and marks the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. This year’s theme is My health, my right.
The theme for this year was selected to advocate for universal access to quality healthcare, education, and information, alongside access to safe drinking water, unpolluted air, nutritious food, adequate housing, fair employment conditions, environmental well-being, and freedom from discrimination, regardless of location.
According to the World Health Organization’s fact sheet on Blindness and Vision, updated August 10, 2023, key facts include:
- Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. In at least 1 billion of these, vision impairment could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed.
- The leading causes of vision impairment and blindness at a global level are refractive errors and cataracts.
- It is estimated that globally only 36% of people with a distance vision impairment due to refractive error and only 17% of people with vision impairment due to cataract have received access to an appropriate intervention.
- Vision impairment poses an enormous global financial burden, with the annual global cost of productivity estimated to be US$ 411 billion.
Vision loss can affect people of all ages; however, most people with vision impairment and blindness are over the age of 50 years.
Be social, share your events and activities using the hashtag – #MyHealthMyRight and #HealthForAll
Timeline of public health milestones.