The following is a list of suggested activities to disseminate health messages during the World Health Day 2013 campaign.

Hold health conferences and fairs and fun runs

Develop educational materials containing health messages

Give technical presentations to experts and champions

Obtain endorsements and enlist the participation of athletes, celebrities and government officials in events

Develop public service announcements and news releases

Hold assemblies, conferences, workshops and symposia

Encourage class or study group discussions

Assign student assignments (essays, research and book reports)

Create games and contests (posters, writing, photography, essays, exercise and art)

Distribute information from health departments and co-sponsors

Invite guest speakers to events

Create plays, music, films and audiovisual presentations

Conduct diagnostic screenings.

In addition, you may consider:

involving members of parliament, government officials and the media to promote health messages and highlight risk factors causing hypertension

issuing commemorative postage stamps bearing the World Health Day slogan

organizing special lectures and discussions in health forums and syndicates

displaying video material for placement in waiting rooms in public places, including hospitals and clinics to raise awareness

encouraging nongovernmental organizations to participate in events

asking religious leaders in mosques and churches to devote sermons during the first week of April 2013 to the theme of health promotion and lifestyle approaches to prevent high blood pressure and other noncommunicable diseases

encouraging national and local media outlets to promote the World Health Day campaign

advocating with the Ministry of Education to allocate at least one hour a day in all primary, preparatory and secondary schools, and medical schools in particular, during the week of World Health Day to talk about aspects of prevention and control of hypertension and noncommunicable disease risk factors, such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity; a videoconference could be arranged for this purpose to link governorates.

World Health Day 2013 is being celebrated this year under the theme of “hypertension”, otherwise known as high blood pressure. The intention of this year’s campaign is to: raise awareness of hypertension and promote behavioural change with respect to primary prevention, improve the chances of early detection and promote effective management for patients. Although hypertension is a serious health problem in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and globally, it is preventable and treatable.

Globally, hypertension is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths annually, representing more than 12% of all deaths. It increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and other vascular conditions. WHO estimates that high blood pressure affects about 40% of adults aged 25 years and older.

On 7 April, WHO will launch the global World Health Day campaign to persuade policy-makers, the regional and international community and other stakeholders to prioritize prevention, early detection and management of hypertension in national policies, programmes and activities. It also aims to involve communities and individuals in order to increase public awareness of the problem. The public awareness campaign will focus on preventive interventions that reduce the risk of hypertension.

An online information package has been developed for the campaign. Event organizers can download media and communication products in adjustable formats to enable language and cultural adaptation according to local contexts. The campaign will include a wide range of web, email and multimedia interactive products, with portals for collection of feedback and on-line updates.

This campaign is a year-long activity extending beyond 7 April to give WHO and Member States the opportunity of implementing sustainable activities over an expanded period of time. Communities, nongovernmental organizations and individuals are encouraged to develop plans with a number of booster events to maintain momentum in conducting events throughout the year.