World Health Day

Healthy Diet is a Lifelong Process

April 7th is declared as World Health Day and this is one of the eight official global health campaigns marked by WHO. The campaign for this year’s health day is on universal health coverage (UHC). If this campaign becomes a success, every person residing in every nook and corner of the world would be able to access quality healthcare facility without financial difficulties.

Many people pay for healthcare services by selling their savings, assets or properties. UHC will ensure that people don’t fall below poverty lines due to expenses incurred and will remain as a key strategy to make progress towards other health goals and developmental goals too.

World Health Day throws light on the need for UHC and its related advantages. WHO feels that none must be put in a situation where they feel that dying is better than living and they are forced to choose between food and medicine. Through the UHC campaign, WHO aims to inspire, motivate and guide people:

Inspire: Upholding policy-makers powers and their ability to modify the health of the nation and encouraging them to be a critical part of the change.

Motivate: Encouraging countries to promote UHC by showing examples of other countries who have already started climbing the UHC ladder to find their own path.

Guide: Making tools for conversations and policies readily available for promoting UHC domestically.

People should also not form the wrong notion that, UHC is a free coverage for various health problems whatever might be the health care cost, as no country in this world can afford to provide all services free of cost. Health is a basic human need and every individual residing in this world is entitled to enjoy good health. Contrarily, half the population in this world is deprived of essential health services too while almost 100 million people are still pushed into “extreme poverty” as their healthcare expense is far too much compared to their income. If this scenario must change and efficient healthcare be available to each person in this universe, UHC must be brought into effective practice by all countries worldwide.

Staying Healthy
According to WHO, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It is not only health care sector or science that can define health status of a person but the individual’s lifestyle choices, physical fitness level, individual characteristics and behavior too. Health is a wide spectrum that includes both physical and mental health which is affected by genetics too to some extent. There is no denying that a person’s diet and lifestyle choices occupy top priority over genetics, but one should also be aware that the effect of these practices is affected by a person’s genes.
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A well-balanced diet, regular physical exercise and sound sleep are three important factors that determine a healthy individual. Individuals interested in following a well-balanced diet can get in touch with registered dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com to get a nutritious diet plan that fulfills all spectrums of health.