World Health Day today:

Lanka joins with ‘1,000 cities – 1,000 lives’ campaign

Nadira Gunatilleke

Today is World Health Day. This year’s theme is `Urbanization and health – Urban health matters’. To mark this day, Sri Lanka will join with 1,000 Cities – 1,000 Lives campaign organised by the WHO, Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry sources said.

According to the sources seven cities from Sri Lanka will join the 1,000 Cities – 1000 Lives campaign. They are Thamankaduwa, Puttalam, Tangalle, Ampara, Baticaloa, Moratuwa and Dehiwala. The main objective of the program is to raise public awareness on possible health risks and diseases that are directly connected with urbanization. MOHs of the relevant cities and other health officials will coordinate the program.

The city of Thamankaduwa will be reawakened under the theme of ‘Pubudamu Pulatisi’ while Ampara will be upgraded into a `smoke free city’. Since there is a direct connection between spread of dengue fever and urbanization, the Ministry will pay special attention towards implementing this program.

Technical assistance is provided by Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry, provincial and regional health authorities in collaboration with WCO Sri Lanka for all the programs, the sources said. According to the WHO, urbanization is associated with many health challenges related to water, environment, violence and injury, non communicable diseases, unhealthy diets and physical activities, harmful use of alcohol as well as the risks associated with disease outbreaks. In 2007 for the first time in history,over half of the world’s population was living in cities and by 2030, six out of every 10 people will be living in urban areas.