From March 30th to April 14th at the Official Documents Department (room 207) is open a book exhibition “The healthy lifestyle: the international and national experience” timed to the World Health Day.

This day was established at the first session of World Health Assembly in 1948, and since 1950 it has been observed annually on April 7^th. Every year, they chose a subject for the World Health Day that covers one of foreground tasks in the field of public health services. The World Health Day 2010 will be dedicated to urbanization and health. This subject has been chosen as a sign of acknowledgement that urbanization exerts a strong influence on public health in general and the personal health of each of us. The urbanization is the irreversible tendency which has become an integral part of the world we live in. The fast growth of urban population will be one of the most important issues of public health in 21 century since more than half of the world population now live in cities. Urbanization associates with many health problems caused by water and environment, violence and traumas, such risk factors, as smoking, wrong nutrition, lack of physical activity, alcohol abuse, and also disasters caused by disease outbreaks.

The World Health Day offers a unique opportunity to concentrate the world community’s attention on the issues of public health and to induce the governments, the international organizations, the business circles and the whole civil society to joint efforts for the problem solving.

One of the World Health Day global purposes is to integrate this Day into a steady international strategy of public health development through a series of regular events held at local, national or regional levels. A successful realization of this strategy has already yielded positive results. In most world regions life expectance increases, children’s death rate decreases, and dangerous disease are under control as more and more people get access to the basic public health services, immunization, pure potable water and water supply.

Many of these results have been achieved thanks to the United Nations Organization which supports public health services, the basic medicines supply, cities improvement, emergency medical aid and infectious diseases control. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations intergovernmental structure designed to coordinate the international public health and the global efforts for diseases control. It aims at the achievement of an advanced healthcare for all, the reproductive health maintenance, and the healthy lifestyle and the clear environment promotion

The Republic of Belarus, as one of the WHO founders, actively participates in the Organization’s activities. Cooperation with the WHO allows our State to use the world experience for the Belarusian public health improvement. Health is the greatest value of each person and the national priority of the Republic of Belarus. Citizens’ health protection and improvement is one of the major tasks of our State.

The exposition includes the following subject sections:

international public health recommendations and standards;
the public health in the Republic of Belarus and cooperation with WHO;
urbanization and health;
mother and child health;
HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases control;
water, sanitation and hygiene;
the healthy lifestyle and medication policy.

The exhibition presents more than 100 documents: books, brochures, periodicals and mimeographed materials, most of which are documents of the international organizations (UNO, WHO, UNESCO, the European Union, the Council of Europe) in the Russian, French and English languages.

The exhibition is designed for specialists in public health, physicians, scientists, professors, students, and also for all who is interested in the issues of public health and the healthy lifestyle.

Useful links

UNO

UNO and public health