Category DAYS TO REMEMBER

          Do you know the number of human beings in the world now? It comes to around 7.7 billion in total!

          In 1989, the governing council of the United Nations Development Programme established the World Population Day as July 11 in order to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.

          July 11 was formerly observed as the Day of ‘Five Billion’ and it had generated considerable interest among people across the world then. Population explosion is a reality. According to statistics, the world population increases by 100 million every 14 months. The explosion in population can result in a range of evils such as poverty, unemployment and corruption.

          The World Population Day attempts to raise awareness about the implications of rising world population. The theme of the celebrations last year was ‘Family Planning is a Human Right’.

          The 50th anniversary of affirming family planning as a human right in the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights was celebrated. The celebration included awareness campaigns regarding the right of women and girls.

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          We are all concerned about the well-being of our body and mind. Medical science testifies that many of our diseases are due to the disharmony between body and mind. There are many socio-cultural and religious practices across the globes that target the holistic health of an individual. Yoga is one such popular practice. We celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21.

            Yoga is an ancient art. With a strong spiritual and meditative core, yoga offers a variety of physical exercises that lead to both physical and psychological well-being. The word ‘Yoga’ derives from the Sanskrit root ‘yuj’, which means ‘to join’ or ‘to unite’, thus signifying the union of body and consciousness. This physical, mental and spiritual practice originated in India thousands of years ago. However, Yoga became popular all over the world only in the 20th century. Today, people practice yoga in various forms around the world irrespective of cultural and religious boundaries.

             The UN has recognized Yoga’s universal appeal and has initiated measures to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practising Yoga. The theme for the 2018 celebration is ‘Yoga for Peace’.

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            Donating blood is considered a noble act. Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day. The observance of the day started in 2004 and is aimed at raising awareness regarding the need for safe blood and blood products. Thousands of blood donors give their blood voluntarily every day! The day is an opportunity to thank them for their kind act and their life-saving blood.

            Blood is the vital sap of our body. It needs to be replaced when an injury or an illness causes loss of blood in our body. Millions of lives are saved every year through blood transfusion. Blood transfusion and blood products support complex medical and surgical procedures too. During maternal and perinatal care, blood products are vital in their life-saving role.

            Blood donation becomes effective only when there are regular donations by voluntary unpaid blood donors. One of the goals of World Blood Donor Day is to encourage people across the globe to volunteer for blood donation. World Health Organization aims to obtain the required blood for all countries by the year 2020.

            Autism is a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability of an individual for communication and social interaction. April 2 is observed as the World Autism Awareness Day.

            Such a dedicated day for autism can raise awareness about people with autism. The day was designed to focus on the importance of empowering men and women affected by autism and involving them and their representative organizations in policy and decision making to address their challenges.

            As is generally observed, girls with disabilities are less likely to complete primary school and most of them drop out of educational institutions. There is less likelihood of any institution providing them employment as well.

            World Autism Day also prepares a platform for discussions about fully exercising rights in matters relating to marriage, family and parenthood on an equal basis with others without the disability.

            Psychiatrists say that autism should not be seen as a disability, disease, disorder or impairment. It is just that some people are different from the rest. Therefore, autism calls for awareness among those unaffected by it rather than those who have it.

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            Today’s generation would find it difficult to believe that human beings were once sold in markets like vegetables or stationery.

            However, the history of our civilization testifies that slavery, an inhuman system of treating humans without any due respect did exist for centuries. Therefore, it is apt to dedicate a day for remembering the victims of slavery and March 25 is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

            One of the darkest episodes of human history is about the transatlantic slave trade in which more than 15 million men, women and children were put up for sale and spent their lifetime under inhuman conditions. It existed for about 4 centuries. The International Day offers the opportunity to remember and honour the victims who suffered and succumbed to death in the cruel system of slavery.

            In honour of the victims, a memorial has been erected for the slaves known as the Ark of Return at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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            A healthy body houses a healthy mind, people say. There are innumerable diseases that await us at our doorstep every day; and thanks to modern medical science, we keep most of them at bay.

            Some diseases, however, have managed to stay untamed and have taken the lives of millions of people. Tuberculosis is one such malady that has claimed millions of lives so far.

            We observe World TB Day on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.

            Medical interventions have helped considerably in containing the disease in many parts of the world. However, TB continues to be the top infectious killer worldwide, claiming over 4,500 lives a day. A new version of the disease called ‘multidrug- resistant TB’ is a major threat to the ongoing efforts.

            World TB Day is aimed at building a commitment to end TB, not only at the political level with Heads of State and Ministers of Health, but also at the grass root level. Therefore, everyone should be brought to awareness programmes and incorporated into the fight against this deadly disease.

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