There is not much to celebrate on World Health Day, declared by the United Nations on April 7. Old diseases once thought to have been eradicated, such as polio, are returning to various continents. And two years after the Covid-19 outbreak, we are still fighting the pandemic.
The theme of this year’s UN event is “Our Planet, Our Health. It focuses on the interdependence between all levels of nature and our health. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 13 million deaths worldwide each year are caused by environmental problems. Climate change has been linked to diseases such as cancer, asthma, plague, heart problems, etc.
We can keep counting the number of deaths and complaining about the state of the world. But nothing will change until we admit that the health care system around the world has failed. Our main concern should be to ask ourselves how, despite all the scientific advances that were supposed to ensure a comfortable life on the planet, humanity has reached such a low point.
Mankind has spawned a health care system based on selfish aspirations. So we can’t expect miracles from her. After all, the evil in question here is the self-serving, selfish qualities ingrained in us. The health care system, like all systems in society, depends on how money is handled and on people’s willingness to make it function properly.
Many international organizations dedicated to guaranteeing a better environment and global health, instead of advancing these goals, are concerned only with amassing financial support and holding handsome conferences without any real results or actions to improve the situation.
Therefore, it is not surprising that humanity is not only unable to deal effectively with pandemics. But even old diseases that were thought to have been virtually eradicated are reappearing. Mankind will never be able to eradicate disease forever if it continues to create the conditions for its spread.
All diseases, especially those discovered in the last few decades, are the result of a mental, physiological and biological imbalance between humans and the environment. Until this is corrected, it is impossible to eliminate the cause of disease.
We see clear evidence of negative human impact on nature – but the root of the problem is deeper. The state of nature depends on the relationship between people. This means that humanity needs to take only what is necessary for its survival and care about the clear functioning of the whole system, instead of reckoning only with selfish calculations and grabbing at everything we can without regard to the consequences.
One might ask: How are human relationships related to what happens in nature? There are four levels in nature: non-living, plant, living, and human. Everything, except man, exists according to the natural laws of reciprocity and equilibrium. Other levels have no free choice in anything; they act instinctively, taking only what is necessary for their survival.
Man is the only creature capable of acting against others deliberately, knowingly, to do harm. All the negative reactions we get from nature are just a consequence of our actions. Simply put, we bring these blows on ourselves.
If we try to build a harmonious system of human relationships, all of nature will be balanced, including humanity. And when we feel how dependent we are on everyone, and everyone acts with care for others individually and collectively, with a common mind and as one body, the ancient saying “in a healthy body a healthy spirit” will become a reality.
