Fairness is in the eyes of the onlooker

Also health is inside out and filtered in from outside!!

It is very difficult to achieve a fair health for all people of the world. Despite many health programs and strategies taken up by the developing countries to distribute their resources equitably, the food gap, health gap, economic disparities continue to increase every year, moreover, every day for some people.

A good governance is achieved by a polity who views their people equally, or equitably. A human is a human irrespective of his sex, ethnicity, occupation, dwelling, caste or character.

A mother dog feeds all her puppies with equal affection, no matter how many of them. Still, a fair mother cannot bring life to all her puppies, few survive only.

Equity is the most documented solution to most of the problems in allocation of resources in health and development.

How equity is achieved is, by providing a bare minimum requisite quality material to the poor whereas a more expensive version to those who can afford.

We can go to a really expensive supermarket to buy the best and variety of food to eat if we are rich. But a poor man can go to a grocery vendor and buy 1 kg potatoes, breads and 2 eggs!! Both the rich and the poor buy food and get similar calories from their meals, but they spend differently. The rich cannot compromise on taste, while the poor have the best possible choice their money can buy.

What coconut oil does to skin can be similar to what a Neutrogena moisturiser can do.

I can live without an I-phone and use an instrument discarded by my father 7 years ago. It works perfectly well for me. This I can manage in order to prioritize on buying books, personal grooming products and a few clothes that are worn daily to work. If I happen to lose some extra weight, I can fit into clothes I bought a few years ago when I was thinner….in the process I am saving resources at my level!!

There are those others who compromise on wearing only two shirts to work for months, only to save for a variety of food to feed their families…..

So, let us be fairer day by day contextually at the grass root level!!

Fairness depends upon the society or social background that we come from. We have a plethora of “our kind of people” everywhere. So, I can deduce that the world is fair contextually.

Certainly in the present century the jungle law is nowhere to be seen with more flexibility in laws, client satisfaction, work place psychology and creative solutions to everyday problems all available at the tip of our fingers which is stupendous, and was unimaginable in the past century.

Nevertheless, there are 1 in 9 people all over the world who do not have enough food to eat. Poverty is when you cannot get at the least 2400 kcal food for an adult on a daily basis, while doing heavy physical work, and 2100 kcal daily for moderate work to sedentary lifestyle. Much calories are provided by foods like breads, milk, potatoes, butter, green leafy vegetables, sugar and pulses. Even these do not reach the deprived adequately. If the intermediaries between food production and consumption do not hoard, a satisfactory nutrition can be provided to most people. Although the process is complex, many organizations have taken up the cause to not let someone sleep hungry at night. This is because we have enough to feed the mouths available on the planet but the distribution of resources is highly inequitable still!!

Some might have heard about an optimum blood pressure, that which is lower than 120/80 mmHg but not considered a heart failure unless it crosses below 90/60 mmHg. Optimum blood pressure is around 110/70 mmHg or around 100/60 mmHg. This optimum is not perfect but goes along with healthy living or optimum health. The healthy optimum describes how fairly pleasant not too happy we feel without any major illness attributed to our organs, and in any adverse situation.

For example, obese people dread acquiring lifestyle disorders like colorectal cancer, HTN, T2DM, ischemic heart disease and so on. They might be unhealthy but can work upon themselves to feel good optimally if not completely healthy. For that, they can quit smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol, practice yoga and meditation and more measures to make a comeback in controlling their own health. Optimum health is a more subjective concept, as it has something inside out, your mental health inside does that for you.

All health professionals keep reviewing guidelines and suggest to inculcate healthy habits, encourage knowing your body and mind yourself, become mindful of your external environment and situations and be of help to others whom you can take care of.

If food and shelter can be taken care of, we can achieve the bare minimum standard of living for the most deprived people on Earth. The next need with its various factors of concern is the availability of water, sanitation and hygiene for the deprived.

To put in simpler words-raising the physical quality of life index for most countries especially the poorer and less fortunate ones, (without discriminating them with the word “Third World”), to be fair, can build a fairer and healthier world.

Specifically, eat healthy, work hard, do not waste time and pray heartily to progress in your life this year. Let us observe each day of this year as an opportunity to build a fairer, healthier world!! (World Health Day Theme 2021)