Scientist of the day - Hugo von Mohl

Hugo von Mohl was a German botanist who was a major figure in the emerging fields of plant anatomy and physiology in the mid-19th century. His research on the plant cell, in particular the cell wall and cell division, paved the way for the development of the cell theory. His works helped in establishing botany as a distinct scientific field. Born into a socially respected family as the son of a statesman, he received a classical education. From an early age, he displayed a keen interest in botany and mineralogy, subjects which he pursued in his leisure time. He studied medicine on growing up, but his deep interest in botany led him to Munich where he collaborated with a group of distinguished botanists and began his research. His research covered diverse botanical fields, and he gained much attention for his description of the behavior of the protoplasm in cell division. Appointed a professor of botany in Tübingen, he spent his entire career there, immersing himself in research whenever he was not teaching. Over the course of his career he made many valuable contributions to botany, especially on the anatomy of the plant cell. He was the first to propose that new cells are formed by cell division and also provided the first clear explanation of the role of osmosis. 

Childhood & Early Life

Hugo von Mohl was born on 8 April 1805, in Stuttgart, Germany. His father, Benjamin Ferdinand von Mohl, was a Württemberg statesman. Hugo had three brothers.

Major Works

• Hugo von Mohl made several significant contributions to the study of plant cell. He first described the behavior of the protoplasm in cell division and demonstrated the cellular origin of vessels and of fibrous cells. He also performed important anatomical work on the stems of dicotyledons and gymnosperms.

Awards & Achievements

• He was made a corresponding member of the Institut de France in 1838.
• The Order of the Crown of Württemberg was bestowed upon him in 1843, conferring upon him a title of nobility.
• In 1850, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• He was elected foreign fellow of the Royal Society in 1868.

Personal Life & Legacy

• Hugo von Mohl never married and dedicated his entire life to scientific pursuits.
• He suffered from ill health during his later years which affected his productivity. He died suddenly on 1 April 1872, at the age of 66.

World Health Day

World Health Day

The World Health Day is celebrated by the people all across the world every year on 7^th of April under the leadership of World Health Organization to draw the mass people attention towards the importance of global health. World Health Assembly was held first time in the year 1948 in Geneva by the WHO where it was decided to celebrate the World Health Day annually on 7^th of April. It was first celebrated worldwide in the year 1950 as the World Health Day. Varieties of events related to the particular theme are organized on the international and national level by the WHO.

It is an annual event being celebrated for years to raise the common public awareness towards the health issues and concerns. A particular theme is chosen to run the celebration and take care of the health for whole year. Global Polio Eradication was also one of the special themes of the year 1995 of world health day. From then, most of the countries have become free of this fatal disease whereas in other parts of the world its awareness level has increased.

World Health Day targets all the health issues on global basis for which several programs are organized yearly by the WHO and other related health organizations at various places like schools, colleges and other crowd places. It is celebrated to remember the establishment of the World health Organization as well as draw the attention of people towards the major health issues in the world. WHO is a vast health organization working under UN for addressing the health issues on a global basis. Since its establishment it has addressed serious health issues including chickenpox, polio, smallpox, TB, leprosy and etc from various developing countries. It has played a significant role aiming to make the world a healthy world. It has all the statistics about global health reports.

How World Health Day is Celebrated

World Health Day is celebrated worldwide by the government, non-government, NGOs including various health organizations at many places by organizing programmes relating to the public health issues and awareness. Participated organizations highlight their activities and supports through the media reports by means of press releases, news and etc. Health authorities from different country take part in the celebration with their pledges in order to support on the health issues worldwide.

Varieties of activities are done in the conference of health workers to encourage people to maintain their health in the presence of media coverage. Debates on the related topics, art exhibitions, essay writing, competitions and award ceremony are organized to fulfill the aim of world health day.

Why World Health Day is Celebrated

World Health Day celebration focuses on increasing the life expectancy by adding good health to the lives of people and promoting healthier living habits. Youths of the new era are also targeted by this event to prevent and make them healthy to make the world healthy and free from AIDS and HIV.

Disease spreading vectors like mosquitoes (malaria, dengue fever, filaria, chikungunya, yellow fever and etc), ticks, bugs, sand flies, snails and etc are also spotlighted by the WHO to make the world free from a wide range of diseases caused by parasites and pathogens. It provides better prevention and cure from the vector-borne diseases spread by vectors and travelers from one country to other. WHO supports various health authorities on global basis to make their own efforts for the public health problems to enhance better life without any diseases.

Some of the objectives of why it is being celebrated yearly are listed below:

• To increase the public awareness of various causes and prevention of high blood pressure.
• To provide detail knowledge of getting prevented from various diseases and their complications.
• To encourage most vulnerable group of people to frequently check their blood pressure and follow medications from the professionals.
• To promote self care among people.
• To motivate the worldwide health authorities to make their own efforts in creating the healthy environments in their country.
• To protect families living in the disease vulnerable areas.
• To teach travelers and send them a messages about how to get protected from the vector-borne diseases while travelling.

Themes:

The theme of World Health Day 2016 was “Diabetes:Scale up prevention, strengthen care, and enhance surveillance”.

The theme of World Health Day 2017 is “Depression: Let’s talk”.