A day to show we care

In the post-2015 world, we are looking forward to previously unimaginable advances. With leaps in technology, communication and medicine, the breakthroughs that we will celebrate will outshadow our innovations of the past. Yet given these revolutionary achievements, it is shocking that there is still such a gap between our modern accomplishments and the harrowing percentage of our world population’s lack of access to health. Health is the metric by which we measure a country’s well-being, encompassing all social, economic and political determinants by which we evaluate a state’s relative welfare. Yet, even at the most basic levels, health and its claim as a human right is an issue that is too often neglected.

Right now, in 2014, over one billion people cannot afford to pay for a doctor or for medicines. One-third of all households in Africa and Southeast Asia have to borrow money or sell assets to fund health-related expenses. Worldwide, over 100 million people fall into poverty every year trying to access needed services. While we can tentatively celebrate the achievements of global campaigns fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, communicable diseases in developing countries are still on the rise. One may assume that these issues are limited to countries distant from our lives, but even here in Massachusetts, two-thirds of bankruptcies are due to health-related costs.

Nearly 70 years ago, a person’s right “to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family” was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This right includes adequate food, housing, medical care and other social services necessary for one’s health. Over the years, additional international conferences have echoed this right, stressing the need of for primary health care and the need to address specific epidemics threatening large parts of our population. In 2012, the UN adopted a unanimous resolution in support of universal health coverage, pressuring governments to provide their citizens with affordable and quality medical care. The resolution asserts that health coverage has a vital role in achieving international development goals and declares that a nation’s health is a prerequisite to sustainable development.

So why not invest in universal health coverage? Not only is health a basic human right, but it is also key to long-term growth and stability. A mere $1 invested in health can produce $9-$20 in income generation by 2035. Universal health systems also bolster resilience to disease outbreaks and strengthen countries’ resistance to challenges such as climate change and faltering economies. Health is intertwined with virtually every social, economic and political issue facing society. No matter what issue one believes in, it relates in some form to health.

Yet there has been an oft-asked question, “What can I do?”

Tufts’ GlobeMed chapter has been developing student leaders in the field of global health for the past five years. The student-run organization sponsored the Rally for the Right to Health this past October on the Boston Common that united over 15 public health groups in the Boston Area and demonstrated the need for universal health coverage. By bringing together students allied under the common goal of health equity, Tufts GlobeMed and other similar organizations have laid a foundation upon which we as students can continue to make tangible progress towards universal health coverage and the social, economic and political changes needed to achieve this basic right.

However, it is important to know that these movements aren’t exclusive to health groups with ready charters and resources. You can get involved, too. This year, on Dec. 12, the second anniversary of the UN’s resolution for Universal Health Coverage, over 450 organizations around the world will celebrate the adoption of the agreement. They will celebrate this “Universal Health Coverage Day” with a common purpose: to show that all over the world, people are passionate about health and they are watching. With the post-2015 Development Agenda in mind, we as students, professionals and interested advocates want to show these governments that we are holding them accountable to the promises they made in the milestone two years ago and are urging more governments to act. But in order to be heard, we need widespread support.

You don’t only need to go to events; there are plenty of other ways to be involved and show your support of health as a human right.  Speak out! Visit the Universal Health Coverage Day webpage or Facebook page, sign up for your own small event, post a photo of support or follow their hashtag to boost up the momentum. Get the conversation going about the need for universal health coverage. The contribution of each individual cannot be underestimated. Every number counts. You count.

Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer of Partners in Health, witness to the Ebola epidemic in Liberia and Massachusetts resident, proclaimed that, “There’s no health care anywhere until there’s health care everywhere." Let’s make health care everywhere. Let’s turn this day into a movement.