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5 May: what is celebrated today
There are dates that do not merely “remember” something: they invite you to look at the world differently. 5 May is one of those days, marked by health and care, but also by culture, education and the memory of territories. Everything happens on the same day —or, in some cases, in the same week— as if the calendar wanted to underline a simple idea: living better depends on concrete gestures and communities that sustain one another.
World Asthma Day
The first Tuesday in May is set aside for something as basic as it is extraordinary: breathing without fighting the air. Promoted by GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma), this day seeks to ensure that control is not a privilege but a real possibility for anyone living with attacks, wheezing or nights interrupted by coughing.
The commemoration began in 1998 in Barcelona, during a world meeting on asthma, and today serves as a call to education: recognise triggers, follow treatments and seek help in time. Behind the statistics are lives reorganised around an inhaler; that is why the message is as human as it is medical: learning is also breathing.
World Hand Hygiene Day
There is a form of protection that makes no noise and yet saves lives: handwashing. Every 5 May, the WHO reminds us that this simple routine remains a decisive barrier against infections, especially in healthcare, where a small gesture can break vast chains of contagion.
The ongoing campaign ‘Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’, active since 2009, insists on consistency. And when the focus falls on gloves, waste or protocols, the underlying point does not change: hygiene is not a formality; it is an everyday ethic that begins on the skin.
International Day of the Midwife
5 May also celebrates those who accompany life when everything is vulnerability and promise. Midwives — key professionals before, during and after childbirth — support, with knowledge and closeness, one of the most decisive moments in any biography.
Their work is not only technical: it is presence, translation, calm. Recognising them is a reminder that maternal and neonatal health is strengthened when care has a face, time and resources; when no one crosses the threshold of birth alone.
World African Heritage Day
UNESCO dedicates this day to African heritage so that it is not reduced to a postcard or cliché, but understood as a living legacy: landscapes, ancient cities, languages, rites, music and knowledge that have shaped the world. Africa is not a separate chapter; it is a centre of human memory.
Celebrating it also means protecting it. Amid climate change, economic pressure and conflict, preservation becomes an urgent task: conserving is not looking backwards; it is securing a future for stories that are still being told.
World Pulmonary Hypertension Day
This 5 May shines a light on a rare, chronic and progressive disease that is often diagnosed late: pulmonary hypertension. Awareness here has a practical and compassionate purpose: recognising symptoms, listening to the body, reducing the loneliness of those who live with fatigue, shortness of breath or unexplained dizziness.
In many places, buildings are lit blue or blue lips are worn as a symbol. The gesture is simple, but its message is profound: visibility is also a form of care.
World Portuguese Language Day
A language is not only a set of words: it is a way of feeling and ordering the world. On 5 May, UNESCO celebrates Portuguese, spoken by more than 265 million people, as a cultural bridge connecting continents and diverse traditions.
Dedicating a day to it is defending plurality: the music, literature, memory and accents that travel with the language. In times of rapid uniformity, this observance invites us to listen more slowly.
Teacher Day in the USA
On the first Tuesday in May, the United States pauses its pace for a moment to say thank you to those who teach. This day forms part of Teacher Appreciation Week and recognises a profession that, sometimes without applause, changes destinies: teaching.
Its origin is associated with a request made in 1944 and supported years later at institutional level. But the deeper reason is always the same: no society can be understood without those who sustain learning, even when teaching means persisting, accompanying and starting again.
Mosquito Action Week
From 5 to 9 May, the PAHO promotes a week devoted to a small and persistent enemy. Mosquitoes do not merely annoy: they can transmit dengue, zika, malaria or chikungunya, and that is why prevention becomes a community exercise.
The proposal is direct and domestic: remove standing water, clean containers, check flowerpots, drains and patios. A campaign like this reminds us that, sometimes, public health begins at home, in what no one sees… until it is too late.