Today is World Health Day, celebrated each year to mark the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 and to draw attention to the importance of global public health.

Today we recognize the more than 17,000 members of the BCGEU who work throughout our health system:

• Offering home support that allows vulnerable seniors to remain in their own homes;
• Providing a wide range of services at assisted living and complex care facilities;
• Assisting British Columbians who suffer from mental health and addiction issues;
• Working out of community-based health facilities and hospitals to provide a range of care, from  administrative health services such as arranging immunization clinics to dietician services;
• ​​Providing pre-hospital emergency services and inter-facility patient transfers throughout the province; and
• Helping to diagnose and monitor disease by using their expertise as medical laboratory technicians.

Today is an opportunity to thank each and every one of you for the vital work you do to keep us all physically and mentally healthy.