
We all realize that the Obama Administration has inherited a whole host of issues to resolve. There is a wave of uproar sweeping from coast to coast regarding the amount of funds proposed to cover President Obama's plans and initiatives, and his health reform is one of those areas that concerns citizens. This is a legitimate complaint and concern, and it is understandable when people fear that a deficit hole will be deeper than we can manage.
Yet, while we see dollars being spent, there may be additional knowledge of which we are not aware. That knowledge may help us to better understand the health issue currently on the table, and this issue is dynamic and ever-changing.
On the one hand, we witness soaring health-care costs resulting from individual responsibility at suboptimal levels for too many. How do we know this? Well, one manifested consequence of people not taking care of their health is the extreme prevalence of obesity in this country. And, this should also be of interest to citizens in other Western countries as the numbers are increasing there as well. The World Health Organization describes obesity as "an escalating epidemic", and "four of the leading causes of death in the United States are related to dietary imbalance and excess" (Boyle & Holben, 2006, p.12).
So, many of our health-care problems leading to over the top costs are self-created problems. And, this is just one example. However, it does not help using time to lay blame, because that will not aid in getting back on track. We have to dig in and help ourselves, and each other. I bring this point to the table only as a reminder to us all that the heavy load on health-care providers is somewhat preventable.
On the other hand, our government has a responsibility and policy role to play in dealing with the health care issues of citizens. It is not a responsibility that President Obama conjured up, because he felt like spending money. Increasing the number of health-insured people, which provides access to health care, was an objective issued in the year 2000 in order to reach 2 major goals of better health and quality of life for the nation's people by 2010. We have enormous challenges to meet. An estimated "40 percent of our population- some 120 million people- will have a chronic disease or condition by the year 2010" (Boyle & Holben, 2006, p.25).
Getting our collective state of health in shape, demands an immense effort and collaboration across the board between public and private entities. Each of these entities has specific objectives to achieve, and the work is in-progress.
Firstly. Repairing the damage of existing problems and burdens needs immediate action. It is here that difficult decisions must be made, and we have the choice of actually fixing "we, the people" and our system, or leaning on timeless arguments of who gets to foot the bill. As long as insurance companies operate profit-based, the exploitation of people will resume, and countless others are shut out from coverage, and access to quality health-care.
If this is what we want, then I must question if people understand the premises of what the "highest good of this nation" are based upon.
This issue is too important to be viewed from a partisan political perspective. Why? The lives of people are at stake.
"The goals of sustainable development cannot be achieved when there is a high prevalence of debilitating illness and poverty, and the health of a population cannot be maintained without a responsive health system and a healthy environment" (2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development).
Health is recognized as a resource for, and an outcome of, sustainable development. Healthy people means productive people, and it is an important resource factor in our economy.
Secondly. The current Administration is committed to ongoing health education to fulfill disease prevention objectives, in addition to "emergency repair". Again, these working areas are specified in the most recent health initiative, issued in the year 2000.
The health initiative is entitled,
Health People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. It presents a national health agenda for the first decade of the twenty-first century. The
Healthy People documents, "represent a national health agenda developed by a consortium of national health organizations, state health departments, the Institute of Medicine, and the U.S. Public Health Service"
(Boyle & Holben, 2006, p. 11).
Arguments that satisfy the fear of people regarding a "socialist movement", is only fear. The issue at hand is basic in nature. It is about pursuing the opportunity of fundamental health and well-being for all human beings. Our system currently operates not much better than countries hosting dictatorship regimes, which sabotage the opportunities of its citizens to thrive and be productive.
Healthy People 2010 is the U.S. commitment to work towards that which was outlined by the nations of the world in a 1978 conference on primary health care, and convened by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund. The goal of the world community is, "to protect and promote the health of all people in the world".
Boyle & Holben (2006). Community nutrition in action. Ca: Thomson.Tamera Daun©