Waylaid by disease

In my last column, I discussed the distinction between health and health care. However, some may wonder why it is important to make a distinction between health and health care in the first place. Why does health matter?

Basically, the right to health is the right to opportunity. Because what does it mean to not be healthy? I like to put it this way. Let’s say that you are studying for your Columbia economics final. You have seven chapters of the book to read and a bazillion problem sets to complete before tomorrow. But you have an awful, splitting headache. There is absolutely no way that you want to keep studying. In fact, there is really no way that you can keep studying, right? But here is the catch. You can take an Advil, have a short nap, eat a snack, drink some water, and probably feel much better, ready to hit the books again.

But what happens when you live in a setting where you have not eaten all day, and there is no clean water and no air conditioning? What if you are not studying for an economics final, but trying to make enough money to feed your children that day? What if you do not have a headache, but tuberculosis? What if instead of just not having Advil, you do not even have access to the medicine that will cure your disease-ridden body and rid you of its pernicious symptoms? What if you get less than four hours of sleep every night because you have to work all day just to break even? You may ask, “How on earth am I supposed to get through that?”

The amazing thing is, though, that millions of people on this planet are doing just that: trying to survive despite the fact that they are weak from hunger, sick from lack of clean water, and unbelievably poor. I have heard so many people say, “If the poor would only work harder, they could lift themselves out of poverty.” But working harder does not always work, and it is not always an option. A lack of health is a lack of opportunities. If a person is sick, it severely limits his economic possibilities.

Our health can affect our social interactions. Many diseases, such as AIDS and leprosy, bear a social stigma. Thus those with an increased risk for disease (the poor) have an increased risk for discrimination.

Our health plays a role in our economic lives. When your parents get sick with a cold, they can take a few days off from work, get better, and quickly return to their routines. But someone who has ill health will have a weaker immune system. Therefore, her body will not be able to fight off the disease as well. And if she lacks access to medicine, her body has to struggle through the disease by itself. It may take much longer time for the person to recover. And if she works at a job where she is easily replaceable, such as in a factory, she may lose her job.

And our health can even affect our political lives. If you are incredibly sick, it is much harder to participate in government, or to lead protests against the government, or to engage in the political process at all.

It’s all about agency—the control we have over our lives. When you do not have proper health, you lose some of that control (especially if you do not have access to the means to regain your health). And thus you lose some of your ability to live to your full potential. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone on this planet were healthy? Think of the scientific progress of the past century—so many brilliant people contributed to these developments. But they represent only a small fraction of the total human population who could contribute to innovations, if given the chance. Nothing limits scientific advancement more than when humans are prevented from innovating. And try innovating if you are in the final stages of HIV/AIDS.

Health is about giving people the chance to thrive. It is so unfair that one billion people on this planet have almost insurmountable obstacles (such as poverty or ill health) placed in their lives, and that therefore they have a much more difficult time living to their full potential. Given the chance, man can accomplish great things. But he often needs his health to have this chance in the first place.

Nicole Dussault is a sophomore in Columbia College majoring in economics-political science. The Mirror Effect runs alternate Thursdays.