World Anaesthesia Day
World Anaesthesia Day commemorates the birth of anaesthesia on 16 October 1846, when doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrated the use of ether for the first time on a patient. In doing so, they changed surgery forever, proving that patients could undergo procedures without the torture of pain previously associated with them.
Despite nearly 170 years having passed since that first anaesthetic procedure, and the countless breakthroughs that have followed, nearly 5 billion people still lack access to safe anaesthesia practices.
In light of this ongoing neglect, global awareness days like World Anaesthesia Day serve as powerful advocacy tools to mobilise political will, educate the general public, and reinforce the achievements of the global anaesthesia community.
Each year, for World Anaesthesia Day, the WFSA focuses on a different aspect of anaesthesia care. This helps to highlight the varied, diverse, and critical roles that anaesthesiologists play in patient wellbeing.
2024 Workforce Well-being
This year workforce well-being has been chosen as the theme for World Anaesthesia Day, fitting in with the WFSA Annual Theme. More on WAD 2024
2023 Anaesthesia & Cancer Care
In line with our 2023 Annual Theme, World Anaesthesia Day 2023 was focused on anaesthesia and cancer care. Celebrations included a special webinar with global oncoanaesthesia experts. More on WAD 2023.
2021 – Teamwork
To mark the Year of Health and Care Workers 2021, WFSA’s decided to use World Anaesthesia Day 2021 to celebrate teamwork and the skills and attributes of those who we work alongside and rely on.
Teamwork is a vital component of an anaesthesiologist’s everyday work. Without it, clinicians are not able to provide the necessary level of patient care and safety to which they aspire.
With the hashtags #WAD2021 and #TeamAnaesthesia, social media platforms filled with anaesthesia professionals sharing photos of their colleagues and celebrating the attributes that these teams bring to making safe patient care possible.
2020 – Occupational Wellbeing of Anaesthesiologists
In 2020, WFSA initiated a campaign that focused on the importance of Occupational wellbeing.
Anaesthesiologists experience high levels of occupational fatigue, burnout syndrome, chemical dependency, mental depression, suicidal ideation and more. There is a link between occupational health and patient safety, with occupational fatigue being one of the main factors in a high prevalence of crises.
WFSA worked with the member societies and the wider global anaesthesia community to create a conversation around occupational wellbeing.
A campaign tools including videos, flyers and a toolkit were developed and disseminated to support anaesthesia providers to for this highly successful campaign.
2019 – Resuscitation
On World Anaesthesia Day in 2019 WFSA partnered with the World Restart a Heart Day movement led by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and the European Resuscitation Council. Under a general theme of ‘Resuscitation’, colleagues around the world were encouraged to use the day to highlight the indispensable role of anaesthesiologists in providing safe and effective resuscitation.
