2006: Working Together for Health
Countries with severe shortages of health workers
In 2006, World Health Day was dedicated to the health workforce crisis, or the chronic shortage of health workers around the world due to decades of underinvestment in their education, training, salaries, work environment and management. The day was also meant to celebrate individual health workers — the people who provide health care to those who need it, in other words, those who are at the center of health care systems.
2008: Protecting Health from the Adverse Effects of Climate Change
In 2008. World Health Day focused on the need to protect health from the adverse effects of climate change and to establish links between climate change and health and other areas of development, such as the environment, food, energy, and transportation.
The theme “Protecting Health from Climate Change” put health at the center of the global dialogue on climate change. WHO chose this theme in recognition that climate change poses ever-increasing threats to global public health security.
2009: Saving Lives. Securing Hospitals in Emergencies
World Health Day 2009 focused on the safety of health care facilities and the preparedness of health care workers who care for victims of emergencies. Medical centers and staff are vital to vulnerable people in disasters – treating injuries, preventing illness and keeping people healthy. Often already fragile health systems cannot continue to function during disasters, with immediate and future public health consequences.
As part of this year’s World Health Day campaign, WHO and international partners stressed the importance of investing in health infrastructure that can withstand hazards and serve people in need of immediate help, and encouraged health facilities to implement systems to respond to internal emergencies, such as fires, and ensure continuity of care.
2010: Urbanization and Health
The 1,000 Cities, 1,000 Lives campaign organized events around the world during the week of April 7, 2010. The global goals of the campaign are:
1,000 Cities: to open public spaces to health, whether it’s activities in parks, town hall meetings, cleanup campaigns or closing sections of streets to motorized vehicles.
1000 Lives: to collect 1000 stories of urban health advocates who have taken action and made a significant impact on health in their cities.