International Youth Day Message 2025

Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director, WHO Department for HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections

My message to the younger and the younger at coronary heart

Today is International Youth Day, a second to have fun the imaginative and prescient, braveness, and memorable contributions that you just make to our world. They convey contemporary views, an unshakable drive to show concepts into motion, and a steadfast dedication to constructing inclusive and sustainable communities. This yr’s theme: Local youth actions for the SDGs and past, honours how you might be translating world ambitions into significant change proper the place you reside.

At WHO, we name on you to proceed to assist us advance Health for All and confront a few of the most urgent infectious illnesses of our time, tuberculosis (TB), HIV, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). These illnesses proceed to say tens of millions of lives, and you might be stepping as much as turn into champions of well being, fairness and alter.

Through daring initiatives just like the WHO’s 1+1 Initiative, greater than 90 000 of you have already joined the battle in opposition to TB, showcasing the extraordinary energy of youth-led advocacy to spark motion, shift insurance policies, and save lives. Young individuals like yourselves, particularly these of you who’re medical college students, researchers, and advocates are shaping choices that decide the well being of whole communities and are breaking down the stigma that retains too many from in search of care.

Today, I name on you in your continued help in combating TB, HIV, hepatitis and STIs. Here’s what you are able to do:Raise consciousness: discuss to your friends, networks, and communities about TB, HIV, hepatitis, and STIs.

1. Stay knowledgeable: use WHO’s knowledge-sharing platforms to maintain up with the most recent steerage and sources for prevention, testing, and remedy.
2. Challenge stigma: communicate out in opposition to discrimination so that everybody feels secure in search of care.
3. Be vocal: use your voice, on-line and offline, to demand stronger responses and hold these well being points within the public eye.
4. Be artistic: remodel world commitments into tangible youth-led actions that handle the advanced drivers of TB, HIV, hepatitis, and STIs, and transfer us nearer to ending these epidemics and reaching common well being protection.

You are the heartbeat of progress. The world wants your management, your concepts, and your braveness to make Health for All a actuality. Together, we are able to construct a more healthy, fairer, and safer future for all.