Much of what is termed “Health Care” today, whether that be government-sponsored programs or private-sector “Medicare for all” healthcare, focuses on the management of diseases and medical conditions. Yet it’s not as if disease management is the end all and be all of health care. Disease management can and should be used to the maximum extent to supplement the care for people with chronic illness. Diseases like asthma and diabetes, although serious in their own right, are serious challenges to daily living. Some may be treatable, and others life threatening. Disease management can be used to focus on the causes of those conditions and, thus, their prevention. Of course, when disease management is the primary focus of health care it is likely that in the end we will need to consider some form of comprehensive healthcare, but that will have to wait for another day.
That is why the fight against Aids is so important, and why the world needs a strong movement to fight against a universal health care system. Every year, millions of lives are lost to preventable diseases, and many of those deaths could have been prevented. All it would take is a quick way to administer proper care for such conditions as tuberculosis, tuberculosis in children, pneumonia, and meningitis, along with other common conditions like the flu. We should remember that the greatest threat to health, death, and disease is neglect of the sick and ill, in the household and in the workplace.
It is time for an all out fight against disease management and all its ties to a universal health care system. The fight against Aids is a perfect starting point for a campaign to consolidate the fight against health neglect into a universal health care strategy. Many people may think that the fight is hopeless, and yet there is a healthy dose of pessimism within the fight against disease. Instead of rushing headlong into this fight, it would behoove us to take a little time to really evaluate our own attitudes and behaviors towards health care and perhaps to turn a new leaf in our approach. Because the fight against diseases will be won only if we approach it in the correct manner, it would be wise to make sure that everyone in our midst has their eyes fixed firmly on the prize. This means that we should take some time to teach the public about disease management and use that education to demand better care for the sick and the weak.