Healthy beginnings

Apr 08, 2025 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

Kaieteur News- On Monday Guyana joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Health Day under the theme ‘Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures.”

This year’s observances kicked off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health, the World Health Organisation said. The campaign, titled Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures, will urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritize women’s longer-term health and well-being.

Health is perhaps the most important issue in our lives. Everyone cherishes good health. World Health Day (WHD) is celebrated on April 7th every year to raise awareness on the causes and consequences of diseases and the respective cures. World Health Day is observed by governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and various health organizations in many countries. The aim is to highlight support for better health care services around the world and for countries to achieve universal health care coverage” by 2030 as part of their Sustainable Development Goals.
World Health Day is the birth anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO), which was founded in 1948. Each year, the WHO selects a theme that focuses on a priority area of public health concern in the world. World Health Day was celebrated this year under the theme “universal health coverage” to alert people that at least half of the world’s population, especially those in the developing countries, do not presently have access to essential health care services. Ordinary people can observe this day by informing themselves on health issues that may affect them or their families.
World Health Day targets all the health issues for which several programs are organized yearly by the WHO and other related health organizations at various places like schools, colleges and other institutions. Since its creation, World Health Day has focused on serious health issues including chickenpox, polio, smallpox, tuberculosis, leprosy, high blood pressure, diabetes etc., which are prevalent in many developing countries. It has played a significant role in making people understand the importance of having good health and how diseases could shorten lives. Its obvious goal is to make the world a healthy place in which to live.

On World Health Day, people take time out from their busy schedules to bring attention to the numerous health conditions that affect people all over the world. They do this through activism, gallery exhibitions and lectures and to make others aware that health care is a fundamental human rights issue. One of the goals of the World Health Day is to increase life expectancy by promoting healthier eating and living habits. It is commemorated to make the world free from a wide range of diseases caused by parasites and to protect people from vector-borne diseases, especially for families living in areas where these diseases are transmitted by vectors, and travellers to countries where they pose a health threat. The objective is to make it easier for people to have better access to public health care in order to enhance their life without suffering financial hardship.
In Guyana, World Health Day is celebrated in various ways all aimed at providing citizens with an opportunity to focus attention on the prevention and control of hypertension and other non-communicable diseases. People are reminded that hypertension is a silent killer that can affect anyone. In addition to the general public, other participants of World Health Day in Guyana include health care providers and policymakers, who help to bring awareness to the importance of World Health Day. In a message to mark the occasion, Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony focused his attention on maternal and neonatal health and survival. She spoke about the achievement of his government and areas they have priopristised. He said the ministry has placed significant emphasis on training and the continuous professional development of healthcare providers. Through local and international collaborations, doctors, midwives, and nurses have received comprehensive training in prenatal care, safe delivery practices, and postnatal support via Continued Medical Education (CMEs) and specialised programmes. Noteworthy achievements, according to the minister include the training of 187 midwives between 2020 and 2024. Currently, an additional 123 midwives are undergoing training and are scheduled to graduate from the Ministry’s Midwifery Programme in May of this year. It is said that the health of a nation has some bearing on the wealth of a nation. It is also said that a healthy nation has people, who for the most part, are in good physical and mental health that make them capable of producing at a high level. The health problems facing the nation can easily be changed or improved not only by government intervention, but also by the citizens taking responsibility for their health disorders. And some of these are obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. There seems to be a reluctance of many to take their medical condition seriously. In general, most Guyanese tend to view the curing of their illness to be the responsibility of doctors and nurses instead of their own. The old saying that prevention is better that cure is still true.

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