Whose Health Is It, Anyway?

Abstract

This book outlines why health, individually and collectively, is the greatest untapped opportunity for prosperity and happiness in the 21st century and introduces the concept of total health as a tool for valuing health. The most significant flaw in health systems today is a failure to value health but instead to count the costs of ill health, and the authors examine why this should be so from a range of perspectives. The costs of ill health are explored not only as an increasing portion of government spend, but also in relation to wider society, where entrenched inequalities result in the clustering of poor health, low educational attainment, and poor job prospects. The ways in which our health and the drivers of health have evolved are described, and their roles in preventing individuals from living well, learning, and working, are identified. The healthcare system is also examined, and revealed to be an illness service with little resilience, importing illness rather than exporting health, and failing to leverage the digital and technological innovations harnessed by other industries. The authors call for health to be valued, rather than ill health costed, and describe a 21st-century healthcare system that expands the NHS from an illness service to a true, total health service. COVID-19 has shown how vulnerable societies, economies, and daily lives are to ill health. This book demonstrates that, by valuing the pivotal role of health, societies could look to a happier and more prosperous future.