World Environmental Health Day 2024 – Check Date, Theme, Significance and History

There are various events that are organized on this day by several countries that are members of IFEH as well as non-members. It is a day to enhance awareness among people about our environment and educate them about how they can contribute to creating a better environment.

What is World Environmental Health Day?

World Environmental Health Day refers to the significance of caring for environmental health. The day advocates not just about safeguarding ecological health but also realizing the effect as well as the relation that environmental health has on the health of humans.

World Environmental Health Day is observed by IFEH and other member nations by conducting events to spread awareness among people across the globe about environmental health. The day is all about endorsing the well-being of humans through the well-being of the environment.

Below are some key highlights of World Environmental Health Day:

Event	World Environmental Health Day
Celebrated on	September 26 (every year)
World Environmental Day Theme 2024	Global Environmental Public Health: Standing up to protect everyone’s Health every day
Started by	International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH)
Year of establishment	2011
Goal	To promote vigorous actions for the conservation of the environment and to meet the SDGs of the United Nations

Theme of World Environmental Health Day 2024

The International Federation of Environmental Health (IHEF) creates a distinct theme for World Environmental Health Day every year. The theme is set in a way to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The World Environmental Health Day 2024 theme is “Global Environmental Public Health: Standing up to protect everyone’s Health each and every day”.

What do you Mean by Environmental Health?

The chemical, physical, and cultural environment of a specific region, is known as its environmental health. The environmental health of an area is affected by various things like;

• Poor quality of air
• Loss of diversity in the environment, and
• Chemical disparities

All the above are factors that disturb the environmental health of a region. Hence, to promote the fortification of environmental health, IFEH advocates the observance of World Environmental Health Day on September 26 every year.

Below are some pointers that support measuring the environmental health of a region:

Environmental Health Indicators

• Level of Pollution
• Diversity in the ecology
• Accessibility to clean drinking water
• Conditions of sanitation
• Agricultural productivity

World Environmental Health Day History

As discussed, World Environmental Health Day was established in the year 2011 with the initiation of the day by the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH). It is a day chosen to make people aware of being kind and considerate towards the environment. As such if our environment stays healthy, our overall health also remains good. So, it is important to ensure better environmental health for the protection of mankind. To achieve this goal, the IFEH works with dedication and observes World Environmental Day every year with new themes and programs.

Significance of World Environmental Health Day

World Environmental Health Day allows an opportunity for people to enhance their consciousness about their surroundings. Below are some reasons that make this day significant:

• The day supports meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since it is closely connected to the UN SDGs
• The celebration also encourages world leaders to support the conservation of the environment
• It helps people to realize that their future and that of the planet Earth very much depend on our attitude towards environmental health

Activities to do on World Environmental Health Day

On World Environmental Health Day, the member countries of IFEH organize different events:

• Public awareness programs are held where they talk about the significance of World Environmental Health Day
• On this day, people from different walks of life come together to openly discuss and exchange ideas to support the conservation of the environment
• This is also regarded as a perfect day by environmental activists globally to advocate for environmental protection

Aligning World Environmental Health Day celebrations with the SDGs of the United Nations

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs were announced by the United Nations in the year 2015. Since then, IFEH has aligned the observance of World Environmental Health Day with the SDGs of the UN. Hence, every year, the member countries of IFEH pledge to meet the SDGs in various ways. In fact, the IFEH has stated that over 17 SDGs are combined with the ideas of World Environmental Health Day.