|
Health is the basic necessity of every human being irrespective of the religion, caste, creed, race etc. It is the focal point of most cultures. Every culture has its own concept of health. However, well accepted/understood definition or meaning of health is ‘absence of diseases’.
Despite the fact that number of messages, slogans, and idioms are in vogue like ‘Health is Wealth’ etc, health is a neglected entity. Other needs like wealth, power, prestige, knowledge, security takes the upper hand, last in the queue is health. Health is often taken for granted and its value is not fully understood until it is lost.
Nevertheless, there has been reawakening that health is basic human right, essential to satisfy human needs and to lead quality life. Health has to be attained by all. In 1977, the 30th World Health Assembly decided that the main social target of governments and WHO in the coming decades should be the attainment, by all citizens of the world by the year 2000, of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life, for brevity, called ‘health for all’. With the adoption of health as an integral part of socio-economic development by the United Nations in 1979, health, while being an end in itself, has become a major determinant of overall socio-economic development and the creation of a new social order.
|
Participants