First Announcement - World Health Day 2003
This year’s World Health Day (WHD) is dedicated to the theme “Healthy Environments for Children” and will take place on 7 April 2003.
Every child should grow up in a healthy home, school and community. The future development of our children – and of their world – depends on their enjoying good health now. Activities to promote Healthy Environments for Children (HEC) in every country could well help shape the future of life. Each individual event – on and around World Health Day – is a key part of the broader effort to promote Healthy Environments for Children. Such events will serve as a springboard for raising awareness, stimulating debate, and building the momentum for national movements that tackle health dangers in the places where children live, learn and play.
Join us now in planning a successful day by organizing events with widespread coverage and involvement. These could include awareness-raising and action programmes, involving children and young people with a focus on encouraging expression and imagination through music, song, drama, art, model building, dialogue and so on.
To help you plan events on World Health Day we invite you to visit the World Health Day website (http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2003/en). The website will emphasize the importance of Healthy Environments for Children, featuring information from around the world about the day. We will be updating the site with new information throughout the year. The site will also provide an opportunity to let others know what you are doing to reflect World Health Day, and for you to find out how you can best contribute to the overall effort to “shape the future of life”.
Material on the site includes:
A WHD Information Kit: The World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters is producing a package of materials for use in conjunction with World Health Day to encourage partners, international organizations, private companies, governments, NGO's, academia, schools, and the community at large to make a contribution to this unique occasion. The information package includes a special World Health Day brochure, a tool kit for organizers, an adhesive sticker, a children’s measuring tape, and a downloadable logo and slogan. Each country or organization participating in World Health Day is encouraged to adapt the materials to its specific needs. The information kit is available in English, French and Spanish. We encourage translation into local languages. Please send us the World Health Day slogan in your national language to be uploaded on the WHD website. Details are available at the website cited above.
Events: Planned events or activities which are relevant to WHD will be listed on the World Health Day website under the events section. We strongly encourage you to inform us of the event being planned by your organization: Please fill in the events form online.
World Health Day 2003 presents a unique opportunity to increase awareness of the importance of each child’s health, and the child’s environment, in the home, school and community around the world. Your contribution is important. By acting together, we can more effectively tackle priority environmental health issues and make a difference in the lives of millions of children.