Category Archives: CityMed

National Disability Rights Awareness Month

South Africa celebrates National Disability Rights Awareness Month annually between 3 November and 3 December. 3 December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and is also celebrated as National Disability Rights Awareness Day.

On this day, World Health Organization (WHO) joined its partners to celebrate under the theme (A Day for All), which reflects a growing understanding that disability is part of the human condition.

Disability is the consequence of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person’s lifetime.

The Disability Awareness Month offers an opportunity for all of us to remove these barriers and to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities through concrete action.

The Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities is responsible for driving the government’s equity, equality and empowerment agenda in terms of those living with disabilities.

https://www.adp.com/spark/articles/2022/09/6-ways-to-recognize-national-disability-employment-awareness-month-at-work.aspx

What are the colours for disability month?

The Disability Pride Flag, initially designed in 2019 by Ann Magill, was created to encompass all disabilities.  It was revised in 2021 with community input, and is now in the public domain.  Within the flag, each color stripe has a meaning:

• Red – physical disabilities
• Gold – neurodiversity
• White – invisible disabilities and disabilities that haven’t yet been diagnosed
• Blue – emotional and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness, anxiety, and depression
• Green – for sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, lack of smell, lack of taste, audio processing disorder, and all other sensory disabilities

The faded black background mourning and rage for victims of ableist violence and abuse. The diagonal Bband cuts across the walls and barriers that separate the disabled from normate society, also representing light and creativity cutting through the darkness.

https://diversity.ldeo.columbia.edu/heritage-months/disability-pride

World Stroke Day is observed on October 29 to underscore the serious nature and high rates of stroke, raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of the condition, and ensure better care and support for survivors.

World Stroke Day 2023

One in four of us will have a stroke in our lifetime. 90% of strokes could be prevented by action on a handful of manageable risk factors including high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), smoking, diet and exercise. On October 29th 2023, we will be mobilizing stroke stakeholders around the world to drive awareness and action on stroke prevention around the world. Together we can be #GreaterThan stroke.

https://www.world-stroke.org/world-stroke-day-campaign

Global Hand Washing Day is an international hand-washing promotion campaign to motivate and mobilize people around the world to improve their hand-washing habits. Washing hands at critical points both during the day and washing with soap are important. In 2008, Global Handwashing Day was celebrated for the first time. This day aims to make people around the world aware of the importance of washing their hands with soap in order to prevent diseases and infections. To commemorate this special day, over 120 million children in 70 countries were encouraged to practice handwashing with soap. Since then, the movement has built momentum, garnering support from various stakeholders such as governments, schools, NGOs, and private firms.

Global Hand Washing Day occurs on 15 October of every year. The global campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of hand-washing with soap as a key factor in disease prevention.^[1] With proper handwashing, respiratory and intestinal diseases can be reduced by 25–50%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Handwashing_Day

World Mental Health Day is an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries.

What is the theme for World Mental Health Day 2023?

Mental health is a universal human right

This year 2023, the World Mental Health Day theme is “Mental health is a universal human right”, a reminder call to everyone worldwide to create awareness, improve knowledge, drive actions that promote and safeguard everyone’s mental health as a universal human right.

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day