Editorial: What does ‘health’ mean? How can a person be ‘healthy’?

We are learning from the pandemic that it is very dangerous to define ‘health’ narrowly

The world is slowly waking up to the fact that ‘health’ is a composite that includes:

• Physical health
• Mental health
• Social health
• Sufficient income to support self and loved ones in a healthy life style
• A home
• Nutrition
• Meaningful employment
• Opportunities for education at every age
• Access to relevant health services for all illnesses and conditions

Readers might add to this list.

What stupidity it is to focus on physical health at the expense of all the other essential elements!  Even if the virus can be brought under control, this narrow focus will bring social wreckage that will make life hardly worth living.

Peter Limbrick, October 2020