By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee
The theme for this year’s World Health Day, 7 April, is ‘Our Planet, Our Health,’ chosen ‘in the face of the current pandemic, a polluted planet, and an increasing incidence of diseases.’ The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), one of the six regional arms of the WHO, poses the challenges humanity faces thus:
- Are we able to reimagine a world where clean air, water and food are available to all?
- Where economies are focused on health and well-being?
- Where cities are livable, and people have control over their health and the health of the planet?
Our Planet, Our Health. Pic – Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
Is this reimagined world a mere dream, or is it achievable? The Covid pandemic is in its third year with no forseeable end soon because of the unpredictable emergence of variants and subvariants. The pollution of our planet goes unabated despite the efforts being pursued to control it. As for diseases, as soon as we have gained some degree of control over one, another seems to be lurking round the corner (AH1N1, Ebola, Zika, Covid), or an old one surfaces again in countries where it had been controlled (pockets of tuberculosis in the US, UK) or becomes resistant to drugs. Overall, though, the increasing incidence of diseases is real as, again, Covid has shown – according to Worldometer, with nearly 600 million cases and over 6 million deaths worldwide to date. The same applies to the non-infectious or non-communicable diseases also known as the NCDs, the rise of which globally has been called an epidemic. * Read More… Become a Subscriber
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 15 April 2022
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