Building a Healthier Future: The Role of Student Service on World Health Day

Around the world, a blessing “To your health!” is a popular toast because it wishes those you are with good health and happiness. As illness and sickness affect everyone, good health should never be taken for granted. That’s why World Health Day, annually celebrated on April 7, continues to be an important celebration and informative event around the world. 

First instituted by the World Health Organization (WHO), World Health Day aims to raise awareness about health issues and promote health initiatives for the betterment of global communities. For future healthcare professionals, such as nursing and healthcare students, World Health Day is an opportunity to put the lessons learned in the classroom into actionable practice. 

The Importance of World Health Day 

From busting mental health myths to combating infectious diseases and highlighting the importance of healthcare for all, World Health Day brings attention to issues that impact the world. As a global event, it broadcasts accurate information and actionable tasks to policymakers, healthcare professionals, educators, and communities all over the world by:

• Raising Awareness. By shining a light on critical health issues that impact communities globally, World Health Day provides information, data, and perspectives about health issues that encourage understanding, empathy, and problem-solving on a global scale.
• Inspiring Action. Each year, World Health Day galvanizes industries, businesses, organizations, students, and communities to work together to advance health-focused policies and initiatives. Working together on a worldwide scale sees a real impact that promotes better health and quality of life for all. 
• Educating and Empowering. When we know better, we do better. World Health Day invites people to take control of their health through informed decision-making, preventive check-ups, and engagement with healthcare professionals and experts.

How to Get Involved for World Health Day

As aspiring healthcare and nursing professionals, students have an integral role to play in sharing the message and goals behind World Health Day. Through advocacy, community engagement, research, and professional development, students can help further the goals of WHD while helping their own communities to better understand health issues impacting friends, neighbors, and patients. 

Here are some ways you and others can promote and participate in World Health Day:

• Be an Advocate for Change: If you are passionate about a particular health topic, let your voice be heard. Join advocacy organizations in their efforts to promote policies and legislation that directly address major health issues. 
• Organize Awareness Campaigns: Work with your classmates and teachers to plan and host an educational event, such as a workshop or webinar about a relevant health topic. You can invite expert speakers and community leaders to share insights and resources.
• Start a Research Project: Work with your classmates, professors, and mentors to identify and conduct research projects that help advance or clarify public health issues.  
• Use your Platforms: Social media platforms are great tools to help amplify World Health Day messages, share educational resources, and rally support for global health initiatives. Make sure you are citing credible sources, like the WHO, and utilizing relevant hashtags and videos.
• Volunteer: Offering your time and energy can be invaluable to health clinics and hospitals. Visit a local clinic, community center, or vaccination site, or hospital to find out where they need help the most.

A core value of Herzing University is to foster care and civic engagement, as well as optimize human potential. As future leaders and practitioners in nursing and healthcare, students can put their education into practice immediately and impactfully by participating—in big and small ways—in the World Health Day campaign and initiatives. Start by talking to your teachers, classmates, and colleagues to access campus and University-wide resources while putting a plan in place to do your part to promote healthy lives for all.