This day is celebrated globally to commemorate the founding of the World Health Organisation under the auspices of the United Nations.

 Sadly, it didn’t attract the headlines but at the same time it impinges on every aspect of our life and living no matter what part of the globe we inhabit. Everyone would agree that clean drinking water and basic food supplies are essentials.

Yet so many people struggle to survive on meagre supplies in many parts of the world, and die of disease or starvation.

It is not good enough for us to turn a blind eye, or start trying to lay blame.

 As a prosperous country we need to respond to the plight of our fellow human beings and do whatever we can to alleviate their predicament.

On the home front, how often do we spare a thought for our farmers and orchardists who have to contend with unpredictable weather and conditions?

Sometimes we only think about them when supplies get low in the supermarkets, or the prices rise.

Healthy living requires healthy eating and healthy lifestyle. Sometimes people call that keeping balance -  others simply call it common sense.

That immediately turns our attention and our gratitude to the health system, to the doctors and nurses and support staff who keep the doors open.

Then there are the blood donors ensuring that the blood banks are able to meet the needs to save lives.                                                                                               

Let us not forget the people who live with chronic disability both mental and physical. 

They need support tailored to their condition, since one size simply doesn’t fit all.

If we are to have a healthy existence, then we have to attend to the environment and stop polluting the atmosphere, the waterways and the oceans.

What a vast scenario opens up before us when we simply use the term world health.

Each of us has a part to play.