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12 March: what is celebrated today
Some dates serve as a gentle reminder: the body sustains routines, the mind orders chaos and the word — when it is free — opens windows. 12 March brings together observances that seem different, but beat with a common thread: prevention and the right not to arrive too late, whether for a diagnosis, an idea or a public conversation. Today we look inward — at organs that work in silence — and outward — at the network where freedom is contested.
World Kidney Day
On the second Thursday in March, World Kidney Day has been commemorated since 2006, promoted by the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations. In 2026 it falls on 12 March, and its purpose is clear: to shed light on a disease that often progresses quietly.
It is estimated that around 10% of the world’s population lives with chronic kidney disease and often does not know it until advanced stages. The kidneys are the body’s great filter: if they fail, not only is toxin removal disrupted; cardiovascular risk also increases and the whole body feels the impact.
The good news is that early detection does not require anything heroic: a blood and urine test can provide decisive signs. At the same time, simple habits — less salt, fewer ultra-processed foods, attention to hypertension and diabetes — become a concrete way of safeguarding the future.
World Glaucoma Day
12 March also draws attention to glaucoma: a group of eye diseases that progressively damage the optic nerve. Its most unsettling threat is its nature: it gives no warning, it does not hurt as one might expect, and when vision “realises”, it is sometimes already too late to recover what has been lost.
That is why this day stresses what seems obvious, though in health it never is: regular check-ups, especially from the age of 40 and for people with a family history. Detecting it in time does not mean curing it — often that is not possible — but it does mean slowing it down, gaining years of independence and preserving everyday actions that depend on sight.
Looking after one’s sight also means looking after a life story: reading, working, recognising loved ones’ faces, finding one’s way around a city. Prevention here has something ethical about it: not leaving one’s gaze to chance.
World Glaucoma Week
More than a day, March devotes an entire week to this cause: World Glaucoma Week, promoted by the World Glaucoma Association. Its dates vary each year, but its spirit remains constant: to bring campaigns, clinics and communities together so that information arrives before harm does.
During these days, awareness events, intraocular-pressure checks and educational activities multiply. The message is simple and therefore powerful: many people live with glaucoma without a diagnosis; talking about risk factors — age, family history, high myopia — may prompt someone to ask for a check-up.
The week broadens the focus: it is not only about a medical examination, but about building a culture of visual health. Sometimes prevention begins with a conversation.
Brain Awareness Week
Through public activities, talks and workshops, Brain Awareness Week — promoted by the Dana Alliance since 1996 — invites us to look at the organ that conducts the orchestra. It is not only neurons: it is memory, emotion, learning, identity. It is the intimate infrastructure of who we are.
During this week, neuroscience comes down from the laboratory into everyday life: how we sleep, how we manage stress, why attention fragments, what it means to care for mental health with the same seriousness with which we care for physical health. The brain is not “repaired” with a motivational phrase; it is supported through habits and knowledge.
And there is a collective dimension: supporting research means investing in the future of millions of people affected by neurological disorders. Understanding the brain is, in a way, learning to treat ourselves better.
World Day Against Cyber Censorship
Since 2008, Reporters Without Borders has promoted World Day Against Cyber Censorship. In a world where the web appears infinite, blockages, surveillance and imposed silences persist. Digital censorship does not only erase pages: it curtails possibilities.
Defending freedom of expression online means protecting access to information, privacy and diversity of opinion. It also means remembering that technology is not neutral: it can open doors or raise walls, depending on who controls it and for what purposes.
This day calls for more than outrage: it calls for critical attention. Because when censorship is normalised, what is lost is not only content: it is the habit of asking questions.
International Twitter Users’ Day
Born in 2012 as a nod to Twitter culture (now X), International Twitter Users’ Day celebrates those who turn brevity into public conversation. In 280 characters there is room for flashes of humour, headlines, denunciations, rage, tenderness and, at times, misinformation.
Twitter users are not only celebrities or politicians: they are also ordinary users who narrate the world in real time, with the nervous pulse of a digital square. A good thread can explain a crisis; a bad message can inflame it. That is the power — and the risk — of the format.
Perhaps that is why this observance serves as a mirror: how do we speak when we know we are being read? What do we do with other people’s attention? On the internet, writing is also a form of responsibility.