World Sleep Day (Friday of the second full week of March) is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) since 2008. It is aimed to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep and to draw society attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medicine, education and social aspects; to promote sleep disorders prevention and management.
Contents
Through the World Sleep Day the WASM tries to raise awareness of sleep disorders and their better understanding and preventability, and to reduce the burden of sleep problems on society that constitute a global epidemic and threaten health and quality of life for as much as 45% of the world's population.
Reflection on Social Media
On 17 March 2017 World Sleep Day trended on Twitter. Renowned Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted using his handle @SrBachchan, which is followed by 25.5 million, that - 'its World Sleep Day tomorrow 17 March..whatever that means !!'. Thousands of people from around the world tweeted on world sleep day. It also shared some space on other social media.
Cost of sleeplessness
It is estimated that sleep deprivation costs the US over $400bn a year with Japan losing $138bn, Germany $60bn, the UK $50bn, and Canada $21bn.
Annual celebration
The World Sleep Day is held annually on the Friday before the March Equinox. The first World Sleep Day was held on 14 March 2008. Events involving discussions, presentations of educational materials and exhibitions take place around the world and online.