World Sleep Day is annually
celebrated on Friday of the second full week in March. Originally this
holiday was celebrated on March 14, but later it's date became movable.
The
first World Sleep Day observation took place in 2008. The holiday was
established by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Association of
Sleep Medicine aiming to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy
sleep.
World Sleep Day features various events, like discussions,
presentations, exhibitions etc. They are held to raise public awareness
of social, medical and educational aspects of sleep problems. Sleep
disorders and their prevention are paid particular attention and
international health organizations remind people about the problems of
lack of sleep and insomnia, calling humanity to a healthy way of life.
More than 10% of the population of developed countries suffer from
insomnia, and every second person on Earth has one or more symptoms of
sleep disorders.
World Sleep Day helps not only raise awareness of sleep disorders. It
also constitutes, that problems of sleep have reached the level of
global epidemic and it threatens health and quality of life of as much
as 45% of world's population
