Dear World
Today is World Health Day – 7 April 2018
The theme for this year is
Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere
The slogan is
Health for All
What are the official websites saying? –
We have come a long way to make the impossible possible…
Our next historic achievement is right in front of us: health for humankind…
What if everyone had access to the health services they need? (1)
The World Health Organization (WHO) founded the principle – all people should be able to realize their right to the highest possible level of health.
“Health for All” has been the guiding vision for over 70 years.
It is also the impetus behind the current organization-wide drive to support countries in moving towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
WHO is calling on world leaders to live up to the pledges they made when they agreed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015 –
Commit to concrete steps to advance the health of all people.
UHC means that everyone, everywhere can access essential quality health services without facing financial hardship.
Countries that invest in UHC make a sound investment in their human capital.
Half the world population is still unable to obtain the health services they need. (2)
100 million people pushed into extreme poverty due to health expenditure. (3)
To achieve the SDG target – one billion more people need to benefit from UHC by 2023.
“No one should have to choose between death and financial hardship.
No one should have to choose between buying medicine and buying food.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – Director-General, World Health Organization (2)
Throughout 2018 we aim to inspire, motivate and guide UHC stakeholders to make commitments towards UHC. (2)
Dear World
How can we inspire policy makers to transform the health of their nations?
Can we really expect change by “framing the challenge as exciting and ambitious”?
Would it be true to say that “inviting them to be part of the change” means that each and every policy maker and stakeholder needs to be honest about where their own personal human health is AND more importantly everyone needs to have the same meaning for this word “health”?
In other words, there is no point someone thinking it is ok to consume Alcohol in ‘moderation’ as part of health and others saying No, because it is a scientific proven poison and not for human consumption as it has zero health benefits.
Would it be true to say that we need to have a ONE-UNIFIED TRUTH about the word HEALTH and until we get to that we are not really evolving in anyway?
Next – How exactly are we going to ‘motivate by sharing examples of how countries are already progressing towards UHC’?
Let us look at an example of the National Health Service in UK.
This is one country where UHC – Free healthcare is provided for all.
How well is it really doing?
Diabetes if it continues at the current rate will bankrupt the NHS. (4)
Using taxis, as the ambulance service cannot cope with the excess of emergency cases during Christmas festive season.
Funding being cut, hospital beds limited and police having to deal with Mental Health with no adequate training or qualifications.
Children and Teenagers needing hospitalisation for self-harm and Eating Disorders.
Long hospital waiting lists for surgery.
Medical staff overwhelmed by patient demands.
GPs dealing with minor ailments like Common Cold.
People waiting to be seen in Accident and Emergency for over 6 hours.
The above is a tiny snapshot of what is going on with the NHS today.
Can we honestly say this is a great example to motivate other countries?
Would it be wise to ask the staff of the NHS and see what they have to say?
Would it be wise to study what a country endorses and thinks is ok, when it comes to human health and UHC?
Would it be a wise move to see exactly what goes on in a GP surgery on any day and observe a hospital coping with staff cutbacks, bed shortages and doctors/nurses working excess hours?
Would that give us an insight into what is true and what is not, when it comes to human health?
Next – how do we “provide the tools for structured policy dialogue on how to advance UHC domestically or supporting such efforts in other countries”?
Is this all bigwig stuff for the big kahunas who run our nations and it just makes no sense to us – the average citizen on the street?
WHY are things so complex and Complicated in our world today?
WHY is it designed so most of us do not understand the wording?
WHY is the word SIMPLE nowhere in any of our policy making dialogue?
So is UHC really working?
Are the ideals true for all?
Is something missing?
Is there Another Way?
Are Solutions working?
Are we using words that sound good but hold no true meaning?
In other words, they do not unite us all as equals in every way.
Are we all in agreement of what “Health for All” means?
Is it time to get real and Get Honest so that we can get to the Truth?
How many in our world abuse their nation’s health systems?
In other words, how many of us have the money but pretend we don’t and cream the health system?
How many of us are Getting Away with It?
How many of us openly abuse the system, which means those who genuinely need the support end up waiting longer and suffering?
How many of us could not imagine having to pay for anything when it comes to health?
How many of us have dual nationality and use the free health service country of our choice when we need, it but have no intention of living in that country?
How many of us continue to lean on our overstretched health service because we know we can, as no one will ever stop us?
How many of us are truly taking responsibility for our health and well-being by making lifestyle choices that ensure we will not drain our countries’ health systems?
How many of us KNOW that campaigns do not work, as it is not a natural way, as they simply do not allow for things to unfold and evolve?
How many of us are wanting to continue living a life of irresponsibility because we KNOW our health system will take care of us when our body gives up or shows us signs of ill health?
How many of us demand that our kind and generous health system gives us the support we deserve because we pay our taxes and it is our right?
How many of us think that the health service owes us something and that our money is our money and not to be used to pay for our own health?
How many of us have ever stopped to consider what it would be like not to ever need the health service because we are making daily living choices that truly support our health and well-being?
Could it be possible that UHC can only work if we as a world come together and unite with the true meaning of the word HEALTH?
Could it be possible that UHC will work if we as individuals started with the word RESPONSIBILITY in every daily choice we make?
Could it be possible that if we were honest about where we are really at with our health – personally and in our family, community, town, city and country, then that honesty would one day get us to TRUTH?
Could it be possible that words do not cut it unless we LIVE the words we put out there into the world?
Could it be possible that we have so much suffering today on our planet, because we have so much irresponsibility in how we are choosing to live every day?
Dear Dear World
As the pope is now saying “I’m ashamed of the state of the world” does that mean he is what the dictionary says – embarrassed or guilty because of one’s actions?
Could this be said for all of us about how we feel?
In other words, we feel our actions are not aligned to Truth consistently as we are not taking full responsibility for every choice we make?
Could it be possible that if we live a life of True Responsibility with True Consistency in every way, to the best of our ability, then we would no longer be ashamed, embarrassed or have any guilt whatsoever because we KNOW our actions are aligned to TRUTH and we are not adding to the ill state of the world?
Diabetes – In 16th Century, Swiss Physician Phillipus Aureolus Paracelsus, considered the ‘Martin Luther of Medicine’ identified Diabetes as a serious general disorder. (5)
HELLO
500 YEARS later and with ALL the INTELLIGENCE in this world today, we have not got to the root cause of WHY we have created an illness called Diabetes.
WHY?
WORLD COST OF DIABETES IS $825 BILLION PER YEAR (6)
This is one disease.
ADD to that Heart Disease, Cancer, Kidney Disease and the rest then ask the Question –
HOW IS OUR WORLD HEALTH TODAY REALLY?
Dear Dear World
Simple Living Global has dedicated this website to humanity as a presentation of what is possible for us ALL EQUALLY, to take human health to another level but it does require that word RESPONSIBILITY.
That means –
No more REGRET
No more BLAME
No more SOLUTIONS
No more GIVING UP ON LIFE
No more BORED WITH LIFE
No more LYING
End of DOUBLE LIFE
End of VICES AND SECRETS
End of CRAZY DAYS
End of CHAMPAGNE LIFESTYLE
End of OVERDOING IT
End the WAR INSIDE US
Cut the HOT TALK
Cut the GOSSIP, JUDGEMENT AND CURSING
Stop LISTENING TO OTHER PEOPLE
Stop SITTING ON THE FENCE
Stop the CARELESS business
Stop wanting MORE MORE MORE
Stop the PERFECT LIFE nonsense
Stop LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
Stop SHOUTING AND SWEARING
Stop HOLDING ON
Understand why we get SICK
Learn to LET GO
Learn from making MISTAKES
Do a TAKE 2
Change our PRIORITY IN LIFE
Up the FOCUS
Live a SEE THROUGH LIFE
Live TRUTH every day
Know EXPRESSION IS EVERYTHING
Know there is ANOTHER WAY
Build a FOUNDATION
Get the SLEEP thing on track
BE GENTLE in every way
Have a real RECIPE FOR LIFE
Keep it SIMPLE
READ and RE-READ ABOUT
ALCOHOL
AMPHETAMINES
ASTHMA
CAFFEINE
CANCER
CHOCOLATE
CHRISTMAS
CHRONIC FATIGUE
COFFEE
COLD HANDS, COLD FEET
COMMON COLD
DAIRY
DEPRESSION
DIABETES
DIETS
DRUGS
EARTH
EARTHQUAKES
EATING DISORDERS
FAMILY
FAST FOOD – JUNK FOOD
FEET AND FOOTWEAR
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
GLUTEN
HEARTBURN
HEART DISEASE
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
INTERNET
JET LAG
KIDNEYS
MARIJUANA
MENTAL HEALTH
NEW YEAR
RAYNAUD’S
SLAVERY – HUMAN TRAFFICKING
SOCIAL MEDIA
SPICE
SPORT
SUICIDE
TOBACCO
TV
VIDEO GAMES
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
WOMEN
YOUTH
Then go to our Global Wellness blog, which will confirm that SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT about our current state of World Health.
Would it be true to say that nothing is working, our world is in a mess and illness and disease are on the rise?
Would it be wise to study people, like the author of this blog who has not needed the NHS for a decade, as they may hold the answers and truly inspire others by their living way?
Is this website, with the volume of content thus far, presenting the answer for true health and well-being and could it be that SIMPLE?
References
(1) (n.d). World Health Day – 7 April 2018. Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere. World Health Organization. Retrieved April 5, 2018 from
http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2018/en/
(2) (n.d). Campaign Essentials for World Health Day 2018. World Health Organization. Retrieved April 5, 2018 from
http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2018/campaign-essentials/en/
(3) (n.d). Tracking Universal Health Coverage: 2017 Global Monitoring Report. World Health Organization. Retrieved April 5, 2018 from
http://www.who.int/healthinfo/universal_health_coverage/report/2017/en/
(4) Press Association. (2015, August 17). Huge Rise in UK Diabetes Cases Threatens to Bankrupt NHS, Charity Warns. The Guardian. Retrieved April 6, 2018 from
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/17/diabetes-bring-down-nhs-charity
(5) (n.d) History of Diabetes. Diabetes Canada. Retrieved April 4, 2018 from
http://www.diabetes.ca/about-diabetes/history-of-diabetes
(6) (2016, April 6). Cost of Diabetes Hits 825 Billion Dollars Per Year. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved April 5, 2018 from
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/diabetes-cost-825-billion-a-year/
Comments 11
How many of us just live our lives, focusing on our own stuff and not paying too much attention to the bigger picture?
Is this what is contributing to the global health crisis?
For as long as we see ourselves and our actions as separate to the all, we will be making choices that serve and indulge us as individuals moment to moment, heedless of the consequences.
And the consequences are exposed throughout this website. In fact, the statistic above on diabetes says it all – a global cost of $825 billion for a single disease.
What are our individual and therefore collective choices that are causing these statistics and the state of our global health?
In future times, will we look back to this blog and see that it was an exposé, calling us to personal responsibility? Encouraging us to get on with the changes so needed in each of our lives, that contribute to the whole.
Our health care system has evolved into a system where you do not have to take care of yourself, and then when you are sick you go get fixed.
That is why it is not working.
No responsibility for how we live.
This is very true Ken. We do not like to see that it is how we are living that is the cause of our ailments. If we could see the trail that we leave, I am sure that most of us would be shocked.
I know that as I take more responsibility for myself I am less of a burden to others and this includes our health systems.
Whilst we can be responsible for ourselves in completing daily tasks independently, I have learnt that there is a much grander responsibility that we all have and that is of choosing to be and live all that we are. When we live less than our potential that is also a lifestyle choice and a cause of illness and disease.
Health Care is a huge issue in the world. What we have is not getting the job done and it has the potential to bankrupt the worlds economy.
The answer lies with taking individual responsibility for our own lives.
I have been living the Simple Living Global – Back to Basics program for 7 years.
I am 66 years old, taking no medication, have not felt the need to go to the doctors for any reason in 5 years.
I have health insurance but have only used it once in 6 years for a regular physical. I feel better than I felt 10 years ago.
The Back to Basics program is not a complicated thing. It just suggests simple common sense things to practice to support our lives.
The key is commitment to taking responsibility for our own lives.
I see more and more how our own health and self care has a massive impact on others.
This last week on a business trip, I could see my choices about food and drink and bedtime and warm clothes and the like were closely observed by those around me. Wellbeing choices were discussed and experimented with.
What if each of us has the potential to change the state of health care in our homes and workplaces and towns and countries, by our own responsible choices, which on some level rub off on others?
Could this be the way we start to turn round the desperate state of affairs we seen in our hospitals and communities?
Daily Mail – 5th January 2019 page 4
NHS goes to war on cigarettes and alcohol.
Alcohol and tobacco addiction are two of the biggest causes of early death. A cornerstone of the plan is preventing ill health in the first place by encouraging patients to take control of their habits. Staff should also be alert to the warning signs of problem drinking, including high blood pressure, a history of falls or blackouts and early symptoms of liver disease.
It reports middle aged and the middle classes are most likely to drink heavily.
Even though there are so many warnings of health risks with alcohol and tobacco, we still continue to put our health at risk and poison our bodies with the consumption of these substances. Why?
We have a responsibility for our own health and the effect we have on others and our health systems.
Fixing it, and ‘putting a plaster on it’ really isn’t working as our struggling health services are showing us.
Why are we not taking our health in our hands? our own care?
Daily choices can create ill health but they can also support too and bring about true health.
Does Simple Living Global have the key for the world about what true health and well-being really is?
The blogs on this website have a theme, which is all about true health and the choices we make, which come from taking Responsibility.
The Week – 19 January 2019
Issue 1210 – page 6
New York
Healthcare for all: The mayor of New York has announced that he will be bringing “universal healthcare” to the city.
Currently 600,000 or so people in New York do not have health insurance and they can receive free care at hospital emergency rooms.
The new scheme is called NYC Care and would provide them with access to primary and speciality care including paediatrics, geriatrics and mental healthcare.
NYC Care will cost $100 million. The mayor says that giving people access to primary care would save money down the line.
Then on p.13 another article says ‘Money alone won’t cure the NHS’.
This article talks about the £20 billion in extra funding promised and the new technology for the NHS.
It questions how even with this financial injection, the NHS will deal with an overstretched workforce.
So on one hand we have a city stating that they will be bring in Universal Healthcare so that everyone has equal access to the medical treatment they need and then we turn to a country that has been delivering this for over 70 years and is on the brink of bankruptcy, due to the demand.
Has this saved money in the long run?
Where lies the answer?
What is true Universal Health Care?
Does Simple Living Global have the answer in this blog?
Is Universal Health Care more than just about everyone having equal access to healthcare and more about us taking Responsibility for our health and well-being and the way that we live everyday?
Would that unite us all and stop the crippling pressures that our health systems are now under, trying to deal with many illnesses and diseases that if we addressed our lifestyle choices would not even exist?
Is it possible that a public funded national health system is not only a great thing but also necessary?
But where public money is concerned, there is usually the propensity to use those funds for our self-serving needs.
Going to an insurance based system may curtail some of the corruption that currently exists in a nationally funded system but doing so will simply change the flavour of corruption but more importantly, it will increase the number of people that, through their lack of financial means, will compromise their medical issues for basic human needs like food, accommodation and heating.
But it is evident that something needs to be done about the spiralling costs of healthcare systems and the fact that many systems are on their way to being bankrupt.
The costs are increasing because, as a race of people, we are getting sicker and sicker – so why are we getting sicker and sicker?
Is it possible that we are not taking responsibility for the way we live our everyday lives?
Is it possible that we know the health system is there to look after us if we get ill and so, because we have that in the back of our minds, we don’t take as much responsibility for ourselves if it wasn’t there?
Is it possible that this is part of the corruption that was mentioned earlier?
The Times – 19 November 2019
Page 4
Title – Exercise Classes on Doctor’s Orders ‘of Little Benefit’
Patients prescribed exercise by their GP provide little evidence to support “social prescribing” schemes according to a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
This study found no improvement in resting heart rate and diastolic blood pressure, which means the change did not achieve meaningful levels.
“Exercise referral schemes” have existed since the 1990s, allowing GPs to refer patients to courses at local sports or leisure centres to boost physical activity.
While we wait for the researchers’ suggestion to redesign social prescribing schemes and focus on using real world data to understand how best to maximise their potential – whatever that means to us the average Jo citizen on the street – can we do our bit now?
Can those of us who do have something to say from lived experience begin to share as a way of social prescribing, without having to apply for the official position?
My GP said last month that he wished he had taken me on board sooner – he was referring to me being a Health Champion for the practice surgery.
How does someone like me become a health champion in the community at the local doctor’s surgery and what gives me the authority to carry out what is needed in this voluntary role?
Answer – It really is quite SIMPLE
Walk the talk and talk the walk
That means you live what you are presenting, nothing more and nothing less.
Next –
In conversation with a professional recently, she shared her first hand experience about meeting several social prescribing staff that had no idea what their job role entailed and what they were supposed to be doing in the name of ‘prescribing’.
Something we both discussed was – what if they were inexperienced about life in general and so they lacked the wisdom that comes with that old fashion common sense stuff that arises from living life, trying things out, making mistakes, learning, realising what works and what clearly does not, then applying it consistently and keeping things simple and back to basics?
It is great that our health systems want people to become social prescribers but have we forgotten the missing ingredient – they have to live life and show us a body that has the results, so others get to feel that and are not left even more disillusioned.
No point having an overweight, exhausted and tired looking person social prescribing us to do exercise and sending us to the local leisure centre when they would never even consider that for themselves, as that is not how they choose to live.
Those employing have a responsibility because there is no chance things will change, if we are not addressing these key factors at the outset when we take on staff in a particular role with an aim and an agenda to achieve real and lasting change.
This conversation got me thinking about our World Health and how far we are off the mark and it is ideas like social prescribing that could be a game changer, but not if we are taking on people who themselves need social prescribing first and foremost.
It seems most of our great solutions end up not working as we go about it with the “band aid to a bullet wound” type of approach so it is deemed to fail from the outset.
Daily Telegraph – 4th January 2020
Visits to GP ‘Influenced by Weather and Football’
Research suggests that patients are less likely to book a GP appointment if the sun is shining or if they are experiencing World Cup fever.
The study, which tracked one surgery’s patients for a year, also found snowy days saw lower footfalls but patients were more likely to request appointments during colder and wetter weather.
Big health stories in the media were also linked to spikes in demand.
On the days of World Cup football matches, there was a significant decrease in demand – a 16 per cent drop when England were playing and a 5 per cent drop if they were not.
The findings come from a study of a medical practice in England.
Researchers examined demand for appointments against Met Office weather data, major health stories and sporting dates from the BBC website in the 12 months from September 2017.
Looking at what this study is saying and the fact that we let outside influences affect our decision to attend the GP surgery, is it possible that we book GP appointments when we don’t truly need them?
Is it possible that it seems a bit frivolous to book a GP appointment only on the days that ’suit us’?
If we are ill, we are ill – no two ways about it.
So why would we allow the weather, media health stories or football to come in the way of seeking help?
Is it possible that this attitude towards our own health and well-being stems from a lack of self-worth?
Is it possible that this attitude towards our own health and well-being shows a great deal of disregard towards, not only ourselves, but others as well?
If we leave booking an appointment to when it suits us rather than when we need it, is it possible that it will lead to situations where the next available appointment for someone who needs one urgently, will have to wait one or two weeks?
If we only book appointments when it suits us, is it possible that this implies we don’t, in truth, really need the appointment?
We have a great service in the NHS, but is it possible we are abusing it because we know it is free and it is our right to use it?
Social Media is most certainly influencing the masses. By that I mean lots of people jump on the bandwagon and align by following or circulating what someone has to say.
I am not into spending a nano second on any platform unless I can feel a purpose and generally most days it’s a no thanks.
Today I was researching an organisation that came to my attention and just scrolling to see the feed and it was one person literally on it daily, getting loads of hits. That led me to the individual and their profile tells me they are into balancing health and indulgence. Recipes that I did not know existed like ‘pizookie’ which we can work out is a hybrid for cookie and a pizza with ice cream and caramel – ALL in the name of health.
Once upon a time, I would fall for this as it suits me to subscribe and follow someone who we could say by the main photo pinned they are healthy, but take a closer look and check out the real life stuff this past week and you see a totally different picture. Not someone I would ever call healthy.
What they do is run long distances and that somehow gives the licence – the permission to indulge daily and they post recipes, tell us their kids play video games all day and ALL in the name of health. But in my old days, I would be blind sighted to the detail and just be on their bandwagon to want to be like them and believe what they say, that you can be “healthy” and indulge at the same time. In other words, I would make out that was real and not ever question it.
We as a world are a long shot away from the true meaning of what Health actually constitutes.
Right now it is like a made up word because this real life example here tells us – eat what we want but run it off and somehow we get thousands of followers, endorsing and championing us and suddenly we are influencing on a mass scale all over the world.
How many of us even think we are being fooled if we just go to these platforms online to get our fix (call it self-medication) for the day? We do not need to do anything – they share their life story, tell us how bored they are that they wash up and not use the dishwasher as they have nothing else to pass the time of day. Interesting or exposing?
What I have come to realise is we are interested in what other people do and promote, but it may not be the truth for us but somehow that does not come into it.
We have a 911 when it comes to illness and disease currently in our world. Our health systems cannot cope and then we have experts telling us lifestyle choices play a huge part in so many diseases that we have today.
Hello – why are we not joining the dots, because nothing is making sense?
We have individuals from the comfort of their own home, with the capacity to effect thousands and thousands of people and anything goes. No policing, no one out there to question them or say “listen up, you cannot put the word indulge next to the word health”. We just let everyone do what they want, because it’s social media and that’s what we can do as we get away with it.
We have no need to be concerned as we have thousands of followers, so that must mean what we put out there – the digital footprint is ok because the masses confirm us by the likes and reposting of our chats – call that circulating as it’s the same thing going around and around.
What if we stopped this kind of following and took a big dose of honesty and reflected on our movements? In other words, clocked our behaviour and question – are we subscribing and aligning to this kind of stuff because it actually suits us and the images of a pizookie with caramel ice cream are what we want in the name of Health?
Is it any surprise that we have not got anything right in truth when it comes to World Health if this is how we behave as individuals – be it the one dishing out the posts or the ones receiving and liking and sharing, so even more join the bandwagon of illusion?
Yes – let’s call it for what it is.
We are in illusion if we think for one moment that chocolate, cookie, pizza style doe with ice cream and lots of caramel sauce drizzled is healthy.
Let’s not bother to ask a health practitioner, let’s just ask our body.
If we did research on this kind of real life stuff, we may even get to the truth, as our body is the marker of truth and it will not lie.