Today is the 129th birthday of the late President Ho Chi Minh, one of the greatest world leaders of the 20th century.
As early as the birth of the republic, Uncle Ho already started calling for all Vietnamese people to pay attention to health and exercise. “Keeping democracy, building our home country, creating a new life, everything needs health to succeed. Every weak person means a weak country – every healthy person, that is, a healthy country,” highlighted in his March 1946 article titled, “Health and physical exercise.”
And his message has sufficient scientific evidence. WHO estimated that sufficient physical activity reduces the risk of all-cause mortality by 30%. OECD agrees that the impacts of health on development are clear. Economic evidence confirmed that a 10% improvement in life expectancy at birth is associated with a rise in economic growth of some 0.3–0.4% a year, holding other growth factors constant.
WHO recommends adults to take at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least 5 days a week. Doubling of this amount is recommended for additional benefits.
Brisk walking is equal to moderate physical activity. 5,000 steps are equal to about 30 minutes of moderate physical activity and 10,000 steps are equal to about 1 hour.
We gather here today as a part of our commitment to realize the WHO recommendation of championing physical activity. It is an important component of the Healthy Viet Nam programme, launched by HE Mr Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Prime Minister. It is also in line with Uncle Ho’s message for everyone.
We are not the only group of people committed to today’s walking activity.
Currently, in Geneva, all WHO Member State delegations attending the World Health Assembly, including the Vietnamese delegation led by Madam Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, are participating in the Walk-the-Talk – Health for All Challenge 2019. All WHO country offices around the world are also organizing the same event. In Viet Nam, the Youth Union and the Young Physicians Association are leading the same activity in all 63 provinces today.
I am also happy to announce that WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Young Physician Association, and the Union of Health Workers, will be launching the 100 days challenge of 10,000 steps per day. The challenge will invite everyone to increase and track their physical activity, particularly walking, and will be rolled out towards the end of June. Further details are available in the Dibo.vn and WHO Viet Nam websites and Facebook page.
We look forward to your active participation. Let’s live by Uncle Ho’s example as he said: “I do it every day, I practice every day.” Let’s live a healthier life and continue building a healthy Viet Nam.
Xin cảm ơn.