World Health Day 2016 Theme Focuses on Raising Awareness of Diabetes
World Health Organization (WHO) has once again opened the global health awareness day known as the World Health Day, which is celebrated every April 7. This year, the specialized agency of the United Nations turned the attention of the public to raising awareness about diabetes.
According to a report by Plos Blogs, the theme is "Beat Diabetes" and WHO is urging everyone especially governments, advocates, health care providers and families to be more educated with regards to the prevention, care and scrutiny of the ways to curtail the global diabetes epidemic.
Metro UK detailed that diabetes is a lifelong chronic metabolic disease in which the blood sugar level is high due to the pancreas' inability to create sufficient insulin in the body. It can also be due to the person's body's incapability to use insulin effectively. The sugar level of the body can lead to either hyperglycemia, which is too much sugar in the blood, or hypoglycemia which is too low sugar in the blood.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
If not treated or controlled properly, major complications in the body can happen such as heart attacks, kidney failure, blindness and even infections that may lead to amputation. There is an estimated count of 347 million people in the world who suffer diabetes and each year, and the number is growing. WHO predicts that by the year 2030, diabetes can be the seventh leading cause of death in the world.
With that being said, World Health Day 2016 is campaigning some of the ways that can help in stopping the rise of the disease and some of the information available that can help improve the lives of those living with it. UN News Centre reported that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon graced the celebration and gave out his message.
"We can limit the spread and impact of diabetes by promoting and adopting healthier lifestyles, especially among young people," he said. "Governments, healthcare providers, people with diabetes, civil society, food producers and manufacturers and suppliers of medicines and technology must all contribute to changing the status quo," he added.
Aside from that, he encouraged everyone to be physically active and to make better choices when it comes to food. He also emphasized the need for a better diabetes diagnosis and the access to medications including insulin.
