Be healthy!

Rule number one, be healthy.
Rule number two, stay that way!

Health systems are too much dangerous and dear. Governments try in any possible way to cut costs and health expenditures, while at the same time pharmaceutical lobbies want diseases and health issues, that mean income and well-being for them at least.

But the question is, what do we want?

In this society, health is number one prerogative, we want to stay fit, health and strong, but do we really take the necessary precautions? Can we truly rely only on external factors, like drugs, hospitals, or GPs? The answer is clearly no, we cannot.

Governments cannot ensure the top health system by investing inefficiently large portion of GDP, as clearly demonstrated the case of US. Ranked 44 by Bloomberg for health care efficiency, but it's the top one in the ranking according to Biggest Rise in Health-Care Cost Relative to Income.

As stated by Davidson of The Huffington Post (2013), "the world's richest country spends more of its money on health care while getting less than almost every other nation in return". 

Take a look!

Source: The Most Efficient Health Care Systems In The World, The Huffington Post, online, 2013

Not always investing more means having better infrastructures or cares, and this is the case. The most efficient country is Singapore, which doesn't spend so much money as US or, on average, European countries.

Source: Bloomberg, Best and Worst, 2014

As you can see, Norway, US and Japan hare the countries who face unsustainable health-care cost per capita, two of these countries have low to lowest score in efficiency of health system.

Two-tier health-care systems are the most common aspect that citizens experience nowadays, if you are rich, you have access to exams and specialists that you pay personally, otherwise you have to line up in the queue and wait for your turn, sometimes you have to wait really a looot of time!

Anyway, the world is beautiful because diversified! The range of expenditures varies from 12$ of Eritrea's government to 8362$ of prodigal american government.

Plus, only 18% of world population live in OECD countries, this small share spends per person per year up to 4000$, while the average world cost or health per person per year 948$, can you spot the difference?

Source: WHO, Spending on health: A global overview, Fact sheet N°319, April 2012

Can you figure out how many persons do not receive adequate health care? 

The minimum spending per person which guarantee the essential and basic life-saving services is attested by WHO to be around 45$.

A huge difference between 44$ and 8362$! Why?

There are several factors that push up the health-care costs and expenditures:

1. doctors, hospitals and other medical providers constitutes a fee-for-service system that reimburses for each test, procedure or visit.
2. ageing of population, endemic diseases such as obesity, asthma, heart disease
3. pushing demand for newer treatments
4. one-sided information or more commonly low circulation rate of information among users
5. higher prices for services
6. legal issues and defensive medicine

Changes are needed. But we should change ourselves first, by taking care of our health, I think everyone cares. 

For now, I am not in the mood to give wise and correct :) advice to Obama, or other chief, but I think to give you some healthy advice to stay fit, healthy and strong.

Let's start!

• First of all, diet, meaning a healthy eating, can be a precious ally to stay health. Did you know that your health reflects the health of your intestines and the pH equilibrium? You need to find out what food keeps you strong and active to fight against stress.Everyone has heard about the Mediterranean diet, so improve your life with a lot of veggies, fruits, fish, a little bit of pasta and once in a while a delicious pizza with prosciutto or veggies, yum!If you want to be an expert and impress your friends, go and have a look to this blog, Ricette di cucina e consigli di vita, with easy, delicious and truly italian recipes, you won't regret it!

•  Exercise, hated word but essential to keep you moving and ready for this fast moving world. Go for a walk, take your dog out, breath, move, visit your town, loose yourself in the beauty of beaches, parks, woods... or if you decide to be cool,go to yoga classes

• Instead of intoxicating your body with medicines, have you ever tried homeopathy and its remedies? Even if in the short run they cost more, in the long run your health will be always strong and at the top.

This is a short list to be healthy and to not rely too much on public services, improving health, wellness and, most of all, decreasing the tax pressure due to high costs of NHS.

According to Steiner, it is useless to have doctors that know remedies for this or that illness, we have to make the entire life and existence healthier for everyone.

So, what else de you do to stay healthy? Let  me know in comments :)

Until our next meeting,

Eleonora