Life is fragile. It is filled with love, happiness and excitement, yet the only thing protecting it is a thin layer of flesh and blood. Without proper health care, any unbalance or threat would break that layer in a pop and the life within it. Health care saves lives but for a price, in a sense, money buys you time to live. This doesn’t come as news to any of us, but ask yourself: what is the price of life?
Affordable health care is something a lot of people take as a given. Unfortunately, far from everyone has the economical wealth to afford quality health care. In the U.S, Obamacare has covered millions of Americans and improved the standards of health care. Even though Obamacare is a success, about 66 million people were reported to have delayed or put off medical treatment for cost reasons during a 12-month period from a survey by the Commonwealth Fund. Additionally, 64 million people had difficulty paying their medical bills over that same period.
On another side of the world, The Union Health Minister of Mumbai, JP Nadda recently announced that the government is working towards making essential medicines available at a cheaper rate. He also stated that the greatest challenge remained in the provision of quality healthcare at affordable rates to the poorest. Mr Nadda added "We need to promote preventive healthcare, shift focus from sick-care and reduce the need for hospitalization / tertiary care. India wants access to affordable healthcare. Equity, access and affordability of quality healthcare to all, particularly to the poorest, is a challenge that government is acutely seized of. Meeting pocket expenditure on healthcare is a priority for the government. We have a shortage of about half a million medical doctors. We need to stress on medical education. (We) have to increase the capacity to train doctors, nurses and paramedical staff to enable effective delivery of healthcare services, particularly to the rural, remote and inaccessible areas of the country, where the need for healthcare is felt the most," he said. The minister also added that non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, etc., are on the rise due to lifestyles and the increased control of communicable diseases. "Early detection and proper care is essential here. When these diseases are not addressed, it further stresses the healthcare system in the country," Mr Nadda said.
India and the U.S are of course different countries, but their problems are still caused by the limited resources that drive costs upwards for quality health care. The U.S can already provide health care for non-communicable diseases (diabetes, hypertension etc.) but at a higher price/physician. India on the other hand need the knowledge and education plus the manpower to deal with their issues. These problems are not exclusive to these countries; they exist all over the world.
So what does all this have to do with the development at BYON8? Well, as you know we are developing something called Project S. It is an entirely new resource in health care that makes problems like these obsolete. By providing a low cost and effective resource, health care becomes more manageable and affordable which also leads to equality. Limited health care becomes limitless which makes money powerless.
Then, what is the price of life?
In a world with Project S, there never will be and you are crucial to its creation. Stay tuned.
[1] Universal Health Coverage-WHO