World Health Day: 7 April

Our planet, our health

World Health Day is celebrated annually and each year draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. April 7 marks the anniversary of the WHO's founding in 1948. Our Volunteer Lara, with a background in medicine and health psychology, highlights the key issues that the WHO is attempting to address.

Reimagine our health, our society and our economy - reimagine our world

This year, in the midst of COVID-19, an increasingly polluted planet and with diseases like cancer, asthma and heart disease on the rise, the WHO is looking globally for World Health Day. With an emphasis on Our Planet, Our Health, the WHO is calling for urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy, while fostering a movement to create societies more focused on wellbeing.

It has taken a pandemic for us to realise just how sick our world has become. Political, social and commercial decisions made all over the world are driving the current climate and health crisis. We have increasingly become slaves to materialism.

We ignored the cost of this to ourselves, our loved ones, other people around the world and our planet. COVID-19 forced us to stop and has given us the time to question our way of life, making us realise we cannot go on as before. We cannot honestly say our economies are thriving when the costs to our societies are so high.

• Over 90% of people breathe unhealthy air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.
• Global warming is seeing mosquitos spread diseases further and faster than ever before.
• Extreme weather events, land degradation and water scarcity are displacing people all over the world and affecting their health.
• Pollution and plastics are found at the bottom of our deepest oceans, the highest mountains, and have even made their way into our food chain.
• Systems that produce highly processed, unhealthy foods and beverages are not only driving a wave of obesity, increasing cancer and heart disease globally, but threatening our world by generating a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

More of us need to come together to create conditions for people worldwide to live better lives. We must stop pursuing the same old self-destructive priorities and use the incredible wealth of information we have to promote better living. Health should be factored into everything; both globally and locally.

COVID-19 has cost the world dearly. Though it has shown us the healing power of science, it has also highlighted the inequities in our world. The pandemic has revealed weaknesses in all areas of society, including health inequalities, and underlined the urgency of creating more sustainable wellbeing societies committed to achieving equitable health now and for future generations, without breaching ecological limits.

In a way, COVID-19 has given us a chance to change the path that we are on and create the future we want. For this to happen, change on an individual and societal level is needed; comprising legislative action, corporate reform and support for individuals to be incentivised to engage in behaviour change and better able to make healthy choices.

Lifestyle is one of the most important constructs for life and good health, yet modern lifestyles are increasingly unhealthy. Alongside the development of society, technology and, in some respects, improved living standards, the change in lifestyle has also introduced new lifestyle diseases.

Obesity was once associated with high-income countries, however, it is now also prevalent in low and middle-income countries. Hence, action needs to be taken worldwide. Healthcare systems, governments, civil society, food manufacturers and us, as individuals, all have vital roles to play in contributing to obesity prevention.

Helping YOU live a healthier life

LiveWell Dorset supports you on your journey to a happier, healthier you through advice and coaching. Funded by Public Health Dorset, the service is free for all adults living in Dorset. You can register online, call, or you may be referred by health professionals.

Why is it free? Public Health Dorset is a partnership of Dorset Council and BCP Council. They partner with Dorset’s local authorities, the NHS and others to provide this free healthy lifestyle advice and coaching.

Want to become more active, lose weight, quit smoking or drink less alcohol? Find out more information from LiveWell Dorset.

We all have a part to play. For health of our planet and ourselves, we all need to take action, now, to transform lives. #HealthierTomorrow