The #WorldHealthDay started on Thursday on an uneasy note. The World Health Organisation, celebrating its birthday, released its first ever global report on diabetes to spread awareness about the disease. And the findings were disconcerting.
Diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death in 2030, WHO predicted. The number of adults living with the disease worldwide quadrupled from 108 million in 1980 to an estimated 422 million adults in 2014. In another 20 years, this number will double.
For the uninitiated, diabetes develops when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin – a hormone that keeps your blood sugar level from going too high or too low – or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin produced. Long-term complications of diabetes include damage to the large blood vessels of the heart, brain and legs, as well as to small blood vessels.
WHO says that diabetes’ growth can be halted by broadening health-promoting environments, and by strengthening national capacities to help people receive the required treatment and care. Access to affordable, healthy food is another need of the hour, say health experts.
In India and in the neighbourhood, politicians and the authorities used World Health Day to dispense sage evergreen advice to help keep us hale and hearty:
But for wits around the world, it was another occasion to bring out the gags.
In the United Kingdom, there was a unique irony to the day.
Here are some useful posters from WHO:
And for those planning to work out, here are some helpful playlists.
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