5 March 2013, Kyiv, Ukraine – The United Nations system in Ukraine announced the launch of the joint outdoor campaign aimed at promotion of the healthy life styles among Ukrainian population.
The outdoor campaign will be held throughout 2013 on the nation-wide scale and is aimed at raising awareness of the general public in five thematic areas: environment and ecology (healthy planet), healthy aging, vaccination, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and reproductive health. Also, in the frame of the information campaign, the issue of the early testing on HIV/AIDS will be highlighted.
All images of the campaign are designed in the same style in the format of billboards and city-lights and have the same slogan – “There are people in your life worth living for”, building a positive emotional connection between the willingness to sustain personal health and ensure the health of the nearest and dearest.
Representatives of the UN agencies commented on the choice of particular issues for the outdoor campaign:
Yukie Mokuo, UN Resident Coordinator a.i., UNICEF Representative in Ukraine: “UNICEF is concerned that only half of children are fully immunized in Ukraine. This is the major risk for children in Ukraine to die from infectious diseases. We call all Ukrainian parents to become aware and make an informed choice that immunisation is the safest way of protecting your children».
Dorit Nitsan, WHO Representative in Ukraine: “The path to health for every community and every individual requires us to make some efforts or changes: Fruit and vegetables are an important component of a healthy diet. If consumed daily in sufficient amounts, at least 500gm per day of different types of fruit and vegetable, excluding potatoes, we could help prevent at least one third of heart diseases and 10% of certain cancers. Health life style, together with healthy environment and access to quality health services, we can add years to our life and life to our years.”
Pavlo Zamostian, Assistant Representative of the UNFPA in Ukraine: “One of the important pillars of reproductive health is voluntary family planning. Access to family planning can prevent up to 70% of cases of unwanted pregnancies and thus reduce abortions; consequently it saves mothers health and life’s. Moreover, recent data shows that modern family planning does not affect fertility rates, thus has positive demographic impact”.
Ricarda Rieger, UNDP Resident Representative a.i., UNDP Country Director: “The paramount challenge of this century is to meet the needs of 7 billion human beings now – and the billions to come – while protecting the intricate balance of nature that sustains life. Demands for water, trees, food and fossil fuels will only increase as world population grows. Human activity has altered every aspect of our planet, including its climate. Shortages of clean water, air and arable land are already a problem, while species loss continues. The resilience of ecosystems – from fisheries to forests – is threatened. We need to chart a new, more sustainable course for the future, one that strengthens equality and economic growth while protecting our planet”.
