The theme for World Health Day 2014 is "Vector-borne diseases"

Every year more than one million people die from vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and yellow fever. Many more people are left with chronic illness and disabilities as a result of infection. 

More than half the world’s population is at risk of these diseases. Increased travel, trade and migration is increasing the number of people at risk.

Vector-borne diseases cause immense suffering for millions of people. 

Not only do these diseases have a profound effect on people’s health but they are a serious impediment to poverty reduction and socioeconomic development.

It is time to draw global attention to the threat posed by vectors and vector-borne diseases. 

The World Health Day 2014 is an event to draw global attention to the threat posed by vectors and vector-borne diseases. 

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.

The theme for World Health Day 2015 is "Food safety".

Food safety is an essential component of global health and sustainable agricultural and economic development. This is especially relevant as the international community focuses on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda. Food safety needs to be integrated into the global food security and nutrition agenda to reach the MDGs.

Food safety problems threaten the nutritional status of particularly vulnerable sub-populations, such as older adults, pregnant women and children. Foodborne illness resulting in chronic diarrhoea can negatively impact on nutritional status by reducing nutrient absorption and exacerbating nutrient deficiencies. Limited access to safe and nutritionally adequate food often forms a vicious cycle of worsening health and well-being. Beyond the direct effects on health, unsafe food imposes significant social and economic costs resulting from loss of income and reduced market access.

This year’s World Health Day 2016 focuses on diabetes to raise people’s awareness of the disease and the ways in which it can be prevented, and for those with the disease, effectively managed to avoid complications, through physical activity, healthy eating and early diagnosis.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar, gives us the energy that we need to live. If it cannot get into the cells to be burned as energy, sugar builds up to harmful levels in the blood.

This year’s World Health Day 2017 focuses on depression, what depression is, and how to prevent and treat it. The campaign aims to reduce the stigma associated with depression and encourage people who are depressed to seek help.

Teenagers and young adults, mothers (particularly after childbirth), and adults over 60 are particularly vulnerable to depression. 

World Health Organization was founded on the principle that all people should be able to realize their right to the highest possible level of health. This year, 2018, marks WHO’s 70th anniversary, and 40th anniversary of Alma Ata Declaration on “Health for All”. These important coinciding events make World Health Day (WHD) 2018, a very special one!

The theme of World Health Day is: Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere. The slogan is “Health for All”. “Health for all” has been the WHO’s guiding vision for more than seven decades. It’s also the impetus in moving towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the theme of World Health Day 2018

The theme of this year’s World Health Day is universal health coverage and primary health care.  The event seeks to focus attention on the actions needed to make universal health coverage a reality for everyone and to ensure better health for all.

WHO has identified five key elements to achieving this goal including: reducing exclusion and social disparities in health, organizing health services around people's needs and expectations and integrating health into all sectors.

On World Health Day, 7 April, WHO is calling for urgent action to eliminate health inequities and promote health equity under the theme “Together for a fairer world”. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted inequities - while some people are able to live healthier lives and have better access to health services the most vulnerable have been hardest hit.

On World Health Day, 7 April, WHO is calling for urgent action to save the planet from environmental threats. Under the theme “Our planet, our health”, the campaign aims to increase awareness of environmental hazards including climate change, toxic chemicals, air pollution and lack of clean water and sanitation. It also aims to make the environment cleaner, economics more well-being centred and the world healthier and fairer.