By Vanessa Cort
WEBSTER’S New World dictionary defines health as: “Physical and mental well-being; freedom from disease, pain or defect; normalcy of physical and mental functions; soundness.”
This definition tells us clearly that health is not simply the absence of disease, but the overall well-being of a person.

The fundamentals of health are considered to be movement, nutrition, sleep, stress management and social interaction, which we all constantly balance in an effort to ward off sickness and achieve fitness.
However, just as health is more than “not sick,” fitness is more than just being “in shape” and involves being resistant to injury, illness and stress in order to increase both the “length of our days” and the quality of our lives.

Experts say that we tend to take movement for granted – being able to stoop, squat, bend, lift an object or simply sit or stand – and believe that loss of this range of movement is a natural part of aging, which they say is “simply not true.”

We are advised that we need to perform these actions three-five days per week to maintain functional pain-free movement.
We are also encouraged to view food as fuel, giving us the energy to go about our daily lives and not as a particular diet, which may require us to restrict certain foods. In fact, diet should only be pursued for a set amount of time, while nutrition involves eating an adequate portion of food from the various food groups.

Sleep is crucial for the body, allowing time to repair muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones, while sleep deprivation has been linked to diabetes, Alzheimer’s and many other disorders.
How we manage stress also impacts our health as do social factors and both of these are affected by socioeconomic status. According to some studies, persons with low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience stress caused by financial difficulties, marital problems and unemployment, while marginalisation and discrimination retard social interaction.

World Health Day, which was celebrated on March 7 (last Friday) marks the founding of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which each year focusses on a particular public health problem.
It is the promotion of good health for people across the globe that has led to the establishment of the WHO, which has as its theme this year – Health For All – and is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Since the foundation of the Organisation in 1948, the world has seen tremendous health challenges, one of the greatest being the most recent – the COVID 19 pandemic – which has required countries to come together to find solutions.
Last Wednesday the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), which serves as Regional Office for the Americas of WHO, held a high-level dialogue – Health for All: Strengthening Primary Healthcare to Build Resilient Systems.

This was designed to reflect on “public health achievements that have improved quality of life over the past decades; promote lessons learned, particularly those that have emerged in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic; and motivate action to address today’s and tomorrow’s health challenges”.
Health for All, in terms of the “Region of the Americas,” is seen as a call to reassert the right to health care as a fundamental right and an opportunity to reaffirm the commitment to primary health care.

This country has long recognised primary health care as central to the promotion of our health care system, as it involves establishing and fostering health practices at the community level. This strategy is endorsed by PAHO, which declares, “Health for all has its roots in the community and our Region’s territory”.
And a message for all this year, from the Economic Times, conveys the very spirit of health: “To keep in good health is a duty; otherwise, we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom and keep our mind strong and clear. Health is the crown on a good person’s head that only the ill person can see. Health is a blessing in one’s life that only the sick person can see.”