Date of issue: April 7, 1972
Printer: British American Bank Note Company
Design: Joyce Wieland
WHO 鈥� World Health Day
Immediately after World War II, members of the United Nations Conference on International Organisations voted to establish a new health organization. On April 7 the following year, the World Health Organisation assumed the role of several previously established health care bodies (including the Health Organisation of the League of Nations created in 1919). Over the following years, the WHO has been involved in a wide variety of activities, such as smallpox eradication, promotion of maternal health, and the treatment/prevention of AIDS.
On April 7th every year since 1950, the WHO has sponsored World Health Day to raise awareness of and begin advocacy programs for a particular global health issue. The first theme was 鈥淜now your health services鈥�. Other topics have included malaria (1960), early cancer detection (1970), polio (1995), and diabetes (2016). In 1972, the theme was cardiac health, dedicated to raising awareness about the prevention and treatment of heart and circulatory disease.
The Stamp
The stamp depicts聽a likeness of a Canadian flag with the maple leaf replaced by a stylized red heart. On either side of the heart, red stripes contain the words 鈥淲orld Health Day鈥� written in French and English. The first-day cover shows a heart with radiating pulmonary arteries on both sides. The logos of the World Health Organization (with a staff of Aesculapius) and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society are evident.
