More than 13 million people die each year from preventable environmental causes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for stronger action during the Eid al-Adha period and World Health Day 2022 to spotlight urgent steps needed to protect human health.
The First World Health Assembly laid the groundwork for World Health Day in 1948 to honor the founding of WHO. Since 1950, World Health Day has been observed annually on 7 April. Each year a specific health theme highlights a core concern of WHO.
This year’s campaign, Our planet, our health, urges governments and citizens to report on actions protecting the planet and its health while prioritizing well-being in societies.
In the face of a pandemic, a polluted planet, and rising illnesses such as cancer, asthma, and heart disease, the WHO warns that the climate crisis is the biggest health threat humanity faces. The climate crisis is, in effect, a health crisis.
Even though the Covid-19 outbreak demonstrated the healing power of science, it also exposed global inequalities, notes the WHO.
The epidemic underscored the urgent need to build sustainable, prosperous societies and to pursue health equity for current and future generations without crossing ecological boundaries, according to the WHO leader.
welfare economies
According to the WHO, the current global economy sustains an unequal distribution of income, wealth, and power, leaving too many people in poverty and instability.
The WHO advocates a bold shift toward welfare-based economies that protect people’s well-being, promote equity, and ensure environmental sustainability. It recommends long-term investments, budgets focused on welfare, social protections, and robust legal and financial strategies.
To break cycles that harm planetary and human health, the WHO calls for legal reforms, responsible corporate practices, and support for people making sound choices.
WHO emphasizes that political, social, and business decisions influence the climate and health crisis, listing the major challenges faced by humanity today.
Nearly everyone breathes unhealthy air, largely due to burning fossil fuels;
global warming accelerates the spread of diseases by mosquitoes;
extreme weather, soil degradation, and water scarcity displace people and threaten health;
pollution and plastics travel to the deepest oceans and the highest mountains, entering the food chain at multiple levels; and
food and beverage systems that are highly processed contribute to obesity, rising cancer and cardiovascular disease, while accounting for a sizable share of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Suggestions for post-pandemic
WHO laid out a manifesto with six recommendations for a healthy and environmentally friendly recovery from the pandemic.
1. Protect and preserve nature, the source of human health. Economies rely on healthy societies, which depend on a thriving natural environment. Deforestation, intensive farming, pollution, and unsafe wildlife management increase the risk of new infectious diseases.
2. Invest in essential services, from water and sanitation to clean energy in health facilities. Millions lack access to basic services needed to maintain health, and many households still lack hand-washing facilities.
3. Ensure a rapid energy transition for health. Annually, more than seven million people die from exposure to air pollution, and 75% of outdoor pollution stems from burning fossil fuels tied to climate change. Renewable energy should be prioritized.
4. Promote healthy and sustainable food systems. Lack of access to nutritious food and unhealthy, high-calorie diets drive health problems, obesity, and diabetes. A quick shift to healthy, nutritious, and sustainable diets is needed.
5. Build healthy and livable cities. With more than half the world living in urban areas, cities generate the majority of economic activity and emissions. Prioritizing walkability, cycling, public transport, pedestrian zones, and bike lanes reduces air pollution and improves health.
6. Stop using taxpayers’ money to fund pollution. Financial reforms are essential in the Covid recovery, including curbing fossil fuel subsidies that harm the climate and air quality. About €366 billion in annual subsidies support fossil fuels.
WHO World Health Day 2022 materials and messaging are available from the official WHO campaigns resources, cited for attribution to the organization and its leadership.