April 7 of each year marks the celebration of World Health Day. From its inception at the First Health Assembly in 1948 and since taking effect in 1950, the celebration has aimed to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization.

In recent years, countries in the Western Pacific have experienced rapid economic growth, migration, and urbanization. This created opportunities for better lives for many but left others behind. The COVID-19 pandemic has undercut recent health gains, pushed more people into poverty and food insecurity, and amplified gender, social and health inequities.

So that, this year, the day focuses on a theme of “Building a fairer, healthier world for everyone”, to ensure that all people are able to access quality health services depending on their needs and values within their communities.

The health ministry has assigned each day of the week with a special theme as follows:

Wednesday, April 21: Supporting health advocates for building a fairer and healthier world

Thursday, April 22: Social participation, empathy, and national harmony for building a fairer and healthier world

Friday, April 23: Religious teachings and linking religious institutions to build a fairer and healthier world

Saturday, April 24: Improving the system of health care network and primary health care to build a fairer and healthier world

Sunday, April 25: Media, education, and culture to build a fairer and healthier world

Monday, April 26: Research, Technology, support, and disruption of production to build a fairer and healthier world

Tuesday, April 27: Inter-sectoral partnerships and social responsibility to build a fairer and healthier world

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This year, with the theme of ‘Building a Fairer, Healthier World’, the day is drawing attention to the numerous barriers that stand between people and calls for urgent action to eliminate health inequities and mobilize action to attain better health for all.

Our world is an unequal one, and some people are able to live healthier lives and have better access to health services than others entirely due to the conditions in which they are born, grow, live, work and age. In addition to pre-existing gaps, the COVID-19 has introduced further inequalities, leaving the harshest impacts on those communities already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality healthcare services and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic.

“Health is a fundamental human right. Every person deserves to live a healthy life regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, disability, economic situation, or employment. Progress in tackling health disparities has been slow worldwide, including in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in which many countries are experiencing emergencies and conflict and we have the largest number of displaced people in the world,” said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean in his message for World Health Day 2021.

The global inequities are not new. Even as the world has seen improvements in average levels of health and life expectancy, these gains have not been shared equally across different sections of societies within and across nations. This is not fair but is preventable. That is why WHO is calling on world leaders to ensure that everyone has living and working conditions that are conducive to good health.

“All over the world, inequality, stigma and discrimination are, and have always been, drivers of diseases of all kinds,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Zero Discrimination Day on March 1. “We must remember that for millions of people, COVID-19 is just one threat they face on a daily basis.”

Over the past decade, Iran has made noteworthy strides towards health equity in the country and put efforts towards achieving Universal Health Coverage by enhancement of financial risk protection with more access to quality of care. Therefore, more than 90% of the country’s population, including in rural areas, now benefits from health insurance that covers 70% of outpatient and 90% of inpatient services offered at public diagnostic and medical centers. Services delivered at Primary Healthcare Centers and pre-hospital care are free of charge.

WHO is working with the Government of Iran to ensure health equity for all and is supporting the county’s national measures while helping the healthcare system to access and use all available domestic and international resources and make sure no one is left behind.

One of such efforts was the launching of the Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (ICERP) on 16 June 2020. The project is a close collaboration between WHO and MOHME and financed by the World Bank at $USD 50 million. To help tighten the gap in the availability of diagnostic and medical equipment by procuring and delivering a total of 316 medical devices and 135 laboratory machines and their consumables to 45 laboratories across 31 provinces.

Working to tackle the root causes of inequity, last week, the WHO Regional Office launched the report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. “This report provides detailed analysis of inequities among and within countries of the Region and recommends fairer policies and actions to achieve health equity. I call on all our partners and stakeholders to take these recommendations forward,” noted Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari.

The regional “Vision 2023: Health for all by all: a call for action and solidarity”, is aligned with this year’s theme and achieving health for all by all is essential to meet the challenges of today and to build the resilience of tomorrow.

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“Nurses account for more than half of all the world’s health workers, providing vital services throughout the health system. Historically, as well as today, nurses are at the forefront of fighting epidemics and pandemics that threaten health across the globe. Around the world they are demonstrating their compassion, bravery, and courage as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: never before has their value been more clearly demonstrated” WHO stated on World Health Day 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the urgent need to strengthen the global health workforce. A new report, The State of the World’s Nursing 2020, provides an in-depth look at the largest component of the health workforce. Findings identify important gaps in the nursing workforce and priority areas for investment in nursing education, jobs, and leadership to strengthen nursing around the world and improve health for all.

“Nurses are the backbone of any health system. Today, many nurses find themselves on the front-line in the battle against COVID-19,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This report is a stark reminder of the unique role they play and a wakeup call to ensure they get the support they need to keep the world healthy.”

“The current situation makes the theme of the World Health Day and the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife even more relevant and meaningful as we acknowledge and pay tribute to all health workers. We need to ensure that all nurses and midwives operate in an environment where they are safe from harm, including those providing services in countries in an emergency. And we need to ensure that they have access to a functioning health care service,” said Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

“Your work with patients and communities in hospitals, in- and out-patient clinics, and health centers are the very foundation not only of the health system but of the social compact of the whole society, particularly at these times of physical distancing and isolation. We salute also all Behvarz and Moragheb-e-Salamat (health workers at PHCs) who play such an important role as part of the community health workforce. We have the highest esteem and respect for your daily effort to overcome fear and anxiety among the community and the patients, and at the same time to deal with your own challenges and concerns for your families. We are here to support you, nurses and midwives and fellow health workers” said Dr. Christoph Hamelmann, the WHO Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran in a joint video message with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME).

“Now during the emergency of the COVID-19 epidemic, you are the pillars of care for pregnant women, lactating mothers, for the newborn and children, for adolescents, the working population, and the elderly, not only with regard to the coronavirus and the special precautions in care that need to be considered but at the same time for all the other urgent health care needs of the population”.

“This World Health Day, we cannot celebrate together physically, but in our hearts and minds we are celebrating together – we are celebrating you, dear nurses, midwives and fellow health workers” he added.

The report, The State of the World’s Nursing 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and Nursing Now, reveals that today, there are just under 28 million nurses worldwide. Between 2013 and 2018, nursing numbers increased by 4.7 million. But this still leaves a global shortfall of 5.9 million – with the greatest gaps found in countries in Africa, South East Asia, and the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region as well as some parts of Latin America.

Revealingly, more than 80 percent of the world’s nurses work in countries that are home to half of the world’s population. And one in every eight nurses practices in a country other than the one where they were born or trained. Aging also threatens the nursing workforce: one out of six of the world’s nurses are expected to retire in the next 10 years.

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