First principles
Why Is Health Non-Health?
1. The problem of health is not in the health sector.
2. Health is an outcome of other, non-health things.
3. No minister of health can fix health.
4. It stands to reason, that in a developing economy, health cannot be developed unless the other non-health sectors are also moving forward. This is because, although policy sectors are categorized separately, in real life they work side by side, like interlocked gears. The entire national economy is one machine, and health is only one of its moving gears; if other, non-health sectors slow down or are not moving forward, health will also grind to a halt.
Hi. My name is Ayo Adene.
For 25 years, I’ve been working to bring health care to large populations in 50 countries. In this series, I share original insights, outside of hospitals, outside of the usual policy conversations. If you’ve ever wondered why health systems are not working, this is your newsletter.
Some of the answers we will find also apply, not only in health, but in every other sector. We will see that for health itself to develop, we need to tackle economic productivity and broader development. And that this cannot be a secondary consideration at all.
Health is a generational burden. If we don’t grasp these first principles, we will trapped in one more failed cycle. For many developing countries, tasks that take longer than one election cycle, are relegated. To see the results of all the hard work done by several generations of health workers and policy makers, we have to transcend politics itself.
But, health is too important to leave to health workers and politicians alone. This conversation is for everybody.
If you’re ready, type ‘yes’ in the comments below, and let’s go!
