In a world where the right to health is increasingly under threat, World Health Day 2024 comes as a timely reminder of the urgent need for action. From diseases and disasters to conflicts and climate change, numerous challenges loom large, jeopardising the health and well-being of millions worldwide.
Conflicts ravage communities, causing death, pain, hunger, and psychological distress. Meanwhile, the burning of fossil fuels exacerbates the climate crisis, polluting our air and depriving us of the basic right to breathe clean air. Indoor and outdoor air pollution claim a life every 5 seconds, underscoring the severity of the situation.
Despite the recognition of health as a human right in the constitutions of at least 140 countries, the implementation of laws to ensure access to health services remains inadequate, with, over half of the world’s population, 4.5 billion people, not being fully covered by essential health services in 2021, highlighting the glaring gap between rhetoric and reality.
Against this backdrop, the theme for World Health Day 2024, my health, my right, serves as a clarion call to action. This year’s theme aims to champion the right of everyone, everywhere, to access quality health services, education, and information. It encompasses broader determinants of health, such as safe drinking water, clean air, good nutrition, quality housing, decent working and environmental conditions, and freedom from discrimination.
Although our health care system has improvements to make, as it stands today, the UK’s NHS is one of the largest public health systems in the world, serving an average of 1 million people every 36 hours, and ranked 18th overall in the 2024 World Index of Health Innovation. Braeburn Care work closely with the NHS to ensure our services operate in a joint up manner, with the best interest of our customers health and wellbeing in mind and today we’re exceptionally grateful to colleagues of the NHS for our working relations.
As we mark World Health Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that health is not just a privilege but a fundamental human right. Let us advocate for policies and actions that promote equitable access to health services and address the root causes of health inequalities. Together, we can build a healthier, more equitable world for all.
