The World Sleep Day 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

Sleep

Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...

 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.

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

Epidemic

In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...

and threaten health and quality of life for as much as 45% of the world's population.

Annual celebration

The World Sleep Day is held annually on the third Friday of March with the exception of the first World Sleep Day that was held on 14 March 2008. Events involving discussions, presentations of educational materials and exhibitions take place around the world and online.

	Date	Slogan
World Sleep Day 2008	14 March	'Sleep well, live fully awake'
World Sleep Day 2009	20 March	Drive alert, arrive safe'
World Sleep Day 2010	19 March	'Sleep Well, Stay Healthy'
World Sleep Day 2011	18 March	'Sleep Well, Grow Healthy'