Today we celebrate the formation of the World Health Organization. Since 1948 the “WHO” has been a huge advocate in educating people about common and not so common health issues effecting people around the world. Every year the WHO focuses on a different issue and this year they decided to spread awareness of “Big threats from small bites”. Vector-Borne diseases to be exact. Vecotr-Borne diseases consist of infections transmitted to humans and animals by blood feeding arthropods such as mosquitos, ticks, and fleas. These illnesses hit the poorest populations the hardest. When people don't have access to adequate housing, clean drinking water, and the ability to keep themselves clean they have a much higher chance of contracting one of these diseases. People that are malnourished are especially susceptible to these sicknesses. More than 1 BILLION people are diagnosed with these diseases each year while 1 MILLION people die from them! This may or may not seem to be a huge number in respect to the global population of over 7 billion. I think the reason behind the World Health Organization choosing this as a topic of focus is because it is something that is growing not only in the number of infections per year but the number of locations these deceases flourish in as well. The WHO believes that these diseases can easily be entirely prevented. The video below gives us guidance about the simple things we can do to protect ourselves from some of these horrible sicknesses.
This being said Dengue Fever (Transmitted by a mosquito) is the fastest growing Vector- Born disease in the world. It’s found in over 100 countries and cases have even been discovered in the state of Florida. Lymphatic filariasis, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis and malaria are some of the major diseases the WHO is trying to spread awareness of. These diseases effect everyone and it’s important that we all do ourselves the favor to follow the simple steps to avoid these terrible diseases and enjoy life in a healthy fashion. Good health is something many people take for granted until they don’t have it. Cherish it and do everything in your power to keep it.
Evera. Everyone should feel this good about healthcare.
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