What is the proportion of real healthy people in the world? It’s probably rather low.  In developed countries people often eat too much and move too little. On top of this, many people also consume lots of fast food, regarded as junk food if high in salt and fat (including harmful saturated and trans fats). Such fast foods are often low in vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Smoking and heavy drinking is still widespread. The hospitals are full of such people, putting a heavy financial burden on society.

 

In developing and poorer countries the situation is often different. Here many people often don’t get enough food to eat and less protein than they need. The result is that their health and immunity is weakened, making them more vulnerable to tropical diseases and other illnesses, also weakening their learning ability e.g. for lack of protein.

 

In addition to the above, HIV as disease is now widespread, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, usually developing into AIDS over time, one of the nastiest killers. This problem is now with us since decades, and – despite all education for prevention – is getting even worse!

 

It should be clear that most of the suffering of unhealthy or sick people (including the cost for the society involved) can be avoided by doing the right thing in the first place. I guess that the entire health costs on earth, together with all the accompanied social costs, amounts to more than a trillion (a million million) dollars per year. With less than 10% of this cost, wisely spent for appropriate prevention, we may be able to improve the situation considerably!

 

 

 

1. Our health is the most important thing in our life and should be treated accordingly by giving it enough time for teaching as subject in schools. Teach not only about maintaining general health but also about diseases.

 

2. Provide only healthy food and drinks in school canteens. They should be low-priced or free.

 

3. There should be at least four hours of physical exercise per week, not too competitive but with incentives for the best achievements.

 

4. Free health examination for school kids should be carried out every year and their blood be tested perhaps every second year, followed up with certain treatments if necessary.
 

5. Give also parents of students free health education from time to time.

 

 

 

1. Show more health programs on television. Make them interesting; otherwise people turn them off.

 

2. Ban junk food commercials on television, especially in children programs, but give the food industry incentives to advertise only healthy food and subsidise such commercials. Also provide clear labelling on food packages.

 

3. Give fast food outlets tax breaks for selling healthy food, which can then be sold cheaper. This may lead to such outlets having the competitive advantage and others following their example.

 

4. Use money from a special health fund for establishing and maintaining more play grounds for children and sport fields for teenagers and adults, also for subsidising gyms for older people.

 

5. Increase the number of sport events with special prices, the costs subsidised.

 

6. Reward smokers if they give up their habit, and basically give non-smokers more advantages including teenagers that don’t smoke. (This is one of the ideas that can be further developed.)

 

 

 

1. Provide more comprehensive vaccinations for small children, the kind of injections depending on the country and the region where they live.

 

2. Keep everybody’s health on record and remind them when they need an important repeat injection (e.g. against tetanus).

 

3. Provide free condoms for males, starting with teenagers. I suggest that health specialists should distribute them and advise the receiver on that occasion about relevant health risks.

 

4. The media should frequently help with informing and updating people about all essential health matters.
 

 5. Teach schoolchildren more about preventing infections.

 

 

 

1. Ban giving cattle, pigs and poultry antibiotics, if this is still the case. Instead, help farmers with new breeds of quickly growing animals and give them incentives.

 

2. Give people more information about bacteria and viruses and educate them about their differences, starting early in school. This would make it easier for doctors to resist wishes of some patients for unnecessary antibiotics.