The event was created by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and takes place on 7th April every year – the date WHO was founded 77 years ago.
Ahead of World Health Day 2025, WHO have confirmed that this year’s theme is ‘Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’ which is set to focus on improving maternal and newborn health and survival.
‘The focus of the campaign comes at a crucial moment, aiming to help countries regain lost progress while showcasing new research and evidence that will enhance the health of women and babies globally,’ Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director of maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at WHO said. ‘As rollbacks to humanitarian assistance jeopardise a critical lifeline for millions, it will also be an opportunity to step up support and collaboration for global health – and deliver hope to those in urgent need of lifesaving care.’
To give context about how important it is to spread awareness around this topic, separate findings from WHO show around 300,000 women lose their life as a result of pregnancy or childbirth each year. What’s more, two million babies die within their first month of being alive and around two million more are stillborn.
Against this backdrop, the figures also display that four out of five countries are off track to meet the United Nations’ global targets for improving maternal survival by 2030 and one in three will fail to meet targets for reducing newborn deaths.
Overall, the goal is to have 12 or fewer stillbirths per 1,000 total births in every country.
With this in mind, the theme of this year’s World Health Day is set to run until 2026 and is calling on governments to better fund maternity care, which includes providing better pregnancy related services that can detect complications early on. Likewise, WHO are also campaigning for authorities to address the risks of climate change for pregnant women and newborn babies – evidence suggests higher temperatures could be linked to preterm births, stillbirth, hypertension and gestational diabetes.
Dr Pascale Allotey, Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO, added: ‘It is not sufficient that women survive childbirth, they must also be able to enjoy their lives in good health.
‘Women and girls everywhere need access to health providers who listen to their concerns and meet their needs, while ensuring they can plan their fertility, take charge of their futures, and protect their health.’
Photo by Ignacio Campo via UnSplash
In related news: