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World Health Day Celebrations in Pakistan
Khizra Imran & Unsa Athar IFMSA - Pakistan publications.ifmsapakistan@gmail.com
Give us an opportunity to have a say on Health, we would simply quote “Health is Wealth my friend.” World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7, to mark the founding of the World Health Organization, and stress the importance of health to be productive and happy. The day provides an occasion to draw attention each year, from all over the world, to a subject of major importance to global health. UN Volunteers have been helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals to reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Today, 327 UN Volunteers are carrying out assignments in the health sector, as doctors, midwives, nurses, health, nutrition and reproductive health officers, health assistants, pharmacists, dentists, and UN dispensary physicians. The wisdom of celebrating a cause globally, on a single day is to make the world collaborate on a single platform and create a feeling of unity and harmony among the masses worldwide. Discussing and advocating a unanimously decided issue together on the same day creates an atmosphere of peace. The world forgets the differences among nations and looks for solutions for common problems. This unity (and the peace associated with it) is the goal behind the working of SCORP.
bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances is responsible for more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers. New threats to food safety are constantly emerging. Changes in food production, distribution and consumption; changes to the environment; new and emerging pathogens; antimicrobial resistance - all pose challenges to national food safety systems. Increases in travel and trade enhance the likelihood that contamination can spread internationally. WHO helps countries prevent, detect and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks – in line with the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice covering all the main foods and processes. Together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), WHO alerts countries to food safety emergencies through an international information network. The Community Medicine Department at the Combined Military Hospital Medical College, along with the team of IFMSA–CMH successfully played their part in contributing towards the day by holding an awareness seminar under the theme “From Farm to Plate, Keet the Food Safe,” with full media coverage. Lecturer Dr. Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry (MBBS, DPH, MPH, M.Sc. FCPS) gave a lecture
In a press release on April 2, 2015 it was announced that “new data on the harm caused by foodborne illnesses underscore the global threats posed by unsafe foods, and the need for coordinated, cross-border action across the entire food supply chain. World Health Day will be celebrated on 7 April, with WHO highlighting the challenges and opportunities associated with food safety under the slogan ‘From farm to plate, make food safe.’”
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According to WHO resources, unsafe food is linked to the deaths of an estimated 2 million people annually – including many children. Food containing harmful
medical students worldwide | AM 2015, Macedonia