By Sukanta Sen and Silvanus Lamin

World Health Day is celebrated worldwide every year by the government, non-government, NGOs including various health organizations. There are some of the objectives of why it is being celebrated yearly and the objectives are seen below:

1. To increase the public awareness on health issue

1. To provide detail knowledge of getting prevented from various diseases and their complications.
2. To encourage most vulnerable group of people to frequently check their blood pressure and
3. To encourage people follow medications from the professionals.
4. To promote self-care among people.
5. To motivate the worldwide health authorities to make their own efforts in creating the healthy environments in their country.
6. To protect families living in the disease vulnerable areas.

The first world health day was celebrated in 1950 with the theme `Know your health services’. Thus it has been 65 years since this day is celebrated with different theme. The theme of world health day in 2015 was `Food safety while this year (2016) the theme is `Beat Diabetes’. There is a close connection and similarity between the theme of world health day in 2015 and 2016. If people do not get safe food they will be posed to different health risk including the diabetes. Safe and nutritious foods increase the immunity of the people. If the disease resistance capacity of the people increases they will be able to resist diabetes and other diseases. According to the information of WHO, there is 422 million of people today suffer from diabetes and in 2012 about 1.5 million of people, 80% of them from the low and middle income country, die due to diabetes. Based on this, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized on addressing diabetes while celebrating the world health day in 2016. However, the outbreak of other diseases such as cancer, kidney problem, reproductive health complications and obesity has increased including the diabetes. The reasons behind this are consuming junk, adultery and unsafe food stuffs as indicated the health experts.

BARCIK believes, protecting the natural food sources as well as taking initiative to let the natural living organisms, life and biodiversity to live their own, the outbreak of different life killing diseases will be reduced. Nature is a real healer of all sorts of human and other life’s diseases. The nature provides the raw materials of all types medicines. On the other hand, emphasizing only on human health will never end the misery. Thus the health of other living things, plants and animals, beasts and microbes need to be addressed in the same time. Human consumes fishes, for instance, and if the health of that fish is not good surely it will affect the health of human. In the same time consuming the flesh of chicken will never provide good health for human if the health of chicken is not sound. It could be said that the rice, wheat and vegetable consumed by humans will cause them diseases if these foods and plants are produced and processed in an unhygienic manner. The chemicals used in food production will pollute air, water and the soil. The crops and grains produced in soil that is affected by harmful chemicals will endanger human health after consuming the crops and grains. Thus it is very important to keep the health of all living organisms, plants, beasts, soils, air, water and the nature itself sound for ensuring sound health of humans on earth.

BARCIK believes prevention is better that cure. Financial attachment is present in curing system and due to expense nature, sometimes poor and low middle class people cannot afford to have access to curing system of health. The mismanagement in state run health services based institutions, hospitals, high profit driven private health sectors and business attitude has worsen the health services related situation of Bangladesh where the poor are the sufferers. BARCIK thinks, in order to ensure people get health services from the health institutions in initiative should be taken to direct and monitor the health services related activities. The access of poor and low middle class people to the state run health institutions such as community clinic in Union level and health needs to be increased. Moreover, the needs of the people should be prioritized in health service related activities and for this a regular monitoring should be in place. On the other hand, government should ensure that people who come to get health services and treatment from the hospitals and clinics are not deceived and harassed. The state also should ensure that the duty officers such as doctors, nurses and health officials perform their duties properly and successfully ensuring quality health services and treatment for the people.

However, focusing on the theme of this years’ health day BARCIK would like say that D=stands for diabetes and discipline. According to the diabetes specialists, discipline life enables people to control diabetes. BARCIK observes, nature has its own discipline. But humans to prove themselves ‘powerful’ and `winners’ many times shatter the discipline of the nature. They kill different ‘life’, ‘plants’ and other elements of nature many times just to serve their interest. As the consequence of this biodiversity killing of humans the harmony in nature has been distracted. The distraction in nature has brought different social and physical diseases for humans. Thus with the objective to beat diabetes and other diseases let us ensure harmony in the nature and let us make the health all family members of the nature sound for our sound health and mind.