World Health Day 2023
Every year, on April 7th, the WHO recognizes World Health Day to raise awareness about global health issues. A basic human right, every individual deserves equitable access to healthcare services, regardless of their socioeconomic status or cultural background.
We are still facing the repercussions of the global pandemic with people from marginalized communities and low-income countries encountering barriers to healthcare, education, and basic resources like clean water and sanitation. These populations are at increased risk owing to sub-optimal living conditions and poor nutrition.
In order to bridge these gaps in health care, we need to address the root causes – poverty, discrimination and social exclusion. While this sounds simple in theory, we know firsthand the complexities that underlie health production, provision and delivery. As a team, we embrace this complexity and through intensive research, and design solutions that are contextually grounded. Our goal is to target persistent, tough problems that affect larger communities, involve stigma and discrimination, and affect youth directly. In the fight for health, we also understand how important it is to help create solutions that prioritize respect and dignity. We are aware of the critical role that advocacy plays in health-seeking behavior. Through the generosity of iconic celebrities who lent their voices and avatars to our ‘Prevention Begins With Me’ interactive materials, we were able to educate over 500 million young adults across 82 countries.
Our interactive, research-backed products are distributed under the Creative Commons License, which allows individuals and communities to access educational materials for free while also providing the flexibility to adapt our products to users’ specific needs. This empowers our partners to use, expand, and share our curriculum with people all over the world.
Globally, as we battle a myriad set of issues such as our lifestyles, stress, environmental concerns, nutrition and socioeconomic factors that affect our overall well-being, a multilayered approach and an intentional study of all these varied determinants of health is what will prove most beneficial. We are determined to use health education to level the playing field between communities and move toward a more safe, equitable society.
We are committed to helping to break barriers and taboos, developing creative solutions and doing whatever it takes to build a more equitable world.