Today, 7 April, we observe World Health Day. The theme is: Universal health coverage: Everyone, everywhere.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that key to achieving universal health is “ensuring that everyone can obtain the care they need, when they need it, right in the heart of the community. Progress is being made in countries in all regions of the world. But millions of people still have no access at all to health care. Millions more are forced to choose between health care and other daily expenses such as food, clothing and even a home.”
Pope Francis rightly states that “Health is not a consumer good but a universal right, so access to health services cannot be a privilege…In many parts of the world… basic health care is denied to too many people.”
In today’s throwaway culture where the lives of the elderly, the poor, the differently abled, the unborn are often ignored, remember his words: “A healthcare organization that is efficient and capable of addressing inequalities cannot forget that its raison d’être is compassion.”
In 1948, WHO defined ‘health’ as follows: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
In June 2011 the British Medical Journal published a paper by Machteld Huber and colleagues who propose changing the emphasis of the definition “towards the ability to adapt and self-manage in the face of social, physical, and emotional challenges.”
The BMJ states that “the WHO definition of health as complete wellbeing is no longer fit for purpose given the rise of chronic diseases as populations age and the pattern of illnesses changes the definition may even be counterproductive…The requirement for complete health ‘would leave most of us unhealthy most of the time.'”
The aforementioned paper “summarises the limitations of the WHO definition and describes the proposals for making it more useful that were developed at a conference of international health experts held in the Netherlands.”
The internet is full of advice as to what we can do to maintain good health/healthy lifestyle e.g. make healthier food choices, get regular exercise, lose weight if you are overweight, protect your skin, limit your intake of alcohol, don’t smoke/use tobacco or take illicit drugs, learn how to manage stress, get a good night’s sleep. Preventive care includes regular checkups by your doctor, dentist, optometrist etc.
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You must have heard the ‘joke’ that for some a balanced diet means filling your plate with anything you like and just learning how to balance it as you carry it to the table.
Years ago a nutritionist advised me to fill half my plate with non-starchy vegetables, a quarter of the plate with protein, and the final quarter with whole grains or starchy vegetables.
For me, eating well continues to be a lifelong struggle – eating junk food on the go as I rush from one job/meeting to another. It is taking a toll on my body. I even went to a hypnotist but that did not help. These days I am on another diet. Yo-yo diets are not good for our bodies.
Here in T&T we know that the health care system is deficient in many ways. One of the aims of the 2019 budget was to promote higher standards of healthcare. After Education/Training, and National Security, Health received the 3rd largest sum in the budget – $5.695 billion.
Is there effective monitoring/evaluation of how this sum is used? We must improve operational efficiency at our medical facilities and delivery of services in the health sector e.g. specialty services, lab services and the number of beds to accommodate patients. Some still have to sleep in corridors or on floors in some of our public hospitals because of a shortage of beds.
There continues to be complaints that: certain CDAP medicines are not available; customer service at some health centres and hospitals could be improved; human resource issues continue to plague the sector.
Some other challenges include: the rising prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases, a shortage of specialists and a shortage of nurses. Our infrastructure often impacts adversely on the health of the nation e.g. access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation, and undermines the Total Quality core value of the Ministry of Health.
Let us promote the dignity of each human being and build the common good by working to ensure universal health care for everyone, everywhere.
