Health in the World: a very worrying assessment

Health is a complex matter of the greatest importance on many aspects. We observe on the one hand a clear improvement of some Health indicators (an increased life expectancy, a decrease of the mortality rate of some pathologies) but on the other hand, a fast and worrying increase of the incidence of serious and highly prevalent diseases.

In France, the cases of cancers have been increasing, from 170,000 each year in 1980 to 320,000 in 2008. The 530,000 cardiovascular diseases induce 170,000 deaths and among the metabolic diseases, diabetes affects around 3 million people while 6 million people are obese or overweight, among which 15% are children.
Pulmonary diseases (impressive rise of allergies), neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's, the infections (AIDS, tuberculosis...) are also progressing.

If this increase of chronic pathologies is partly the result of the population ageing, it is also and mainly due to our very deleterious ways of life and to our degraded environment. There are more and more therapeutic treatments available to respond to these pathologies, and everyone expects to benefit of them, often without changing his way of life, or only marginally, neither before nor after the disease has happened.

Medicine can't resolve everything

With the great advances in medicine, some cases can now be cured.
When medicine can't cure, as for the most part of chronic diseases, it aims at controlling the pathology, relieving the patients and extending their life, in the best possible conditions. Nevertheless, these efforts don't always meet their goals. Moreover, treatments may induce undesirable effects, sometimes serious (in France 130,000 hospitalizations and at least 13,000 deaths each year), and are very often difficult to tolerate for a long-lasting period.

At the same time, medicine has become “hypertechnical”. Patients are examined per organ, per apparatus, which often offsets the global comprehension of the person condition and leads to a poor human relationship between the care givers and the patient.

All that represents a huge cost in terms of human suffering and resources, including a more or less vain rush towards more and more treatments once the disease has taken place.

A great part of these diseases is predictable and can be perfectly explained as these diseases are the result of our ways of life

A great part of these diseases is predictable and can be perfectly explained (60% according to the WHO/ World Health Organisation) as these diseases are the result of our ways of life. This will not be only solved by more and more effective disease care but also and mainly by an action at the source. However Health resources are currently mainly dedicated to pathology.

WHO sets itself a target to reduce by 2% each year the mortality rate from chronic diseases in the world, within the next ten years. If achieved, this would avoid 36 million untimely deaths by 2015. Scientific knowledge to achieve this target already exists and needs to be put in action.

My position facing this assessment

After having worked in the field of the curative and technical medicine for 20 years, I became acutely aware that a new positioning was necessary. I thus chose to refocus my professional life towards the Promotion of Health, and furthermore, of Vitality.

Changing the reference paradigm

In order to aim at a much better Health status for the human population and to improve the financial situation of health systems, it is necessary to develop primary prevention, health promotion and education, on a broad scale and rapidly.

A drastic repositioning towards the promotion of Health, and furthermore, of Vitality, is therefore essential. It is necessary to highly enhance the investment level and the scope of the actions, by increasing their number and developing local, strategically conceived, community-based actions, involving the whole population and the private actors of the society.

It has been the conclusion of most official reports by the various national and international political authorities and institutions, for many years. Implementing actions quickly on a broad scale and developing the necessary leadership in order to succeed are the stakes of today and this is what has been lacking so far.

Children have to be educated as a priority in order to generate new generations of adults, more aware, responsible and master of their health.

Health: needs to be considered globally, as a strategic matter, a societal strategic stake. Need for a sustainable and in depth “health culture impregnation”
Level of investments, number and scope of population based actions need significant reinforcement and an implication of all stakeholders, public and private.

Health or Vitality?

Health is most likely the most valuable good of Humanity. It is an essential issue for the human population whether from social, economic or political angles, at the national and worldwide levels. The question is basically to maintain the life and to promote it.

In its Constitution (1948 April 7th), the Worldwide Health Organisation (WHO) gives the following definition of Health:

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
“The objective of the World Health Organization shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health."

The notion of health is nowadays often overused. The word in fact often indicates disease or, at best, attempts to restore health after the pathology has arisen. The notion of health itself is restrictive.

Within the context of a global view of the human being in perfect health, in all its components, and in full possession of his faculties to maintain and improve it, the notion of vitality is more appropriate as it refers to the life itself. It is dynamic, not static.

Which references for human beings in perfect health and full of vitality?

Health on the physical level:
A healthy body that perfectly works in all its organs and functions, kept fit by exercises, nutrition of good quality, good sleep...

Health on the emotional level:
A healthy life without stress, a fulfilled affective life and a daily activity that brings meaning and gives incentive and impetus every day.

Agile intelligence:
People can capitalize on all their skills and faculties, freely, easily and very efficiently. They don't feel "restricted" in their skills, they are permanently learning, with pleasure. They can look for and evaluate what is good for their health and put it into practice.

Creativity and intuition:
In order to maintain and improve creativity and intuition, people must have a way of life that allows them renewing steadily their own resources through relaxation, breathing, insight and good emotional stability. Creativity and intuition flourish in an environment that encourages innovation, research, creation, curiosity.

For fulfilling theses conditions, an environment that promotes health, at family, professional or environmental levels, where every individual is conscious of its health and educated to develop it, is necessary.
Each individual can then promote health around him. In this way, people can experiment a state of great vitality.

“Create Vitality” deploys these fundamentals in its consultancy and counselling activities.