What is the proportion of really healthy people in the world? It’s probably rather low. In developed countries people often eat too much and move too little. On top of this, many people also consume lots of fast food, regarded as junk food if high in salt and fat (including harmful saturated and trans fats) Such fast foods are often low in vitamins and minerals. Smoking and heavy drinking is still widespread. The hospitals are full of such people, putting a heavy financial burden on society.

In developing and poorer countries the situation is often different. Here many people often don’t get enough food to eat and less protein than they need. The result is that their health and immunity is weakened, making them more vulnerable to tropical diseases and other illnesses, also weakening their learning ability for lack of protein.

In addition to the above, HIV as disease is now widespread, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, usually developing into AIDS over time, one of the nastiest killers. This problem is now with us since decades, and – despite all education for prevention – is getting even worse!

It should be clear that most of the suffering of unhealthy or sick people (including the cost for the society involved) can be avoided by doing the right thing in the first place. I guess that the entire health costs on earth, together with all the accompanied social costs, amounts to more than a trillion (a million million) dollars per year. With less than 10% of this cost, wisely spent for appropriate prevention, we may be able to improve the situation considerably!

I suggest holding this amount in special health funds for each country, to be used for educating people about health (starting from young age), helping them to a healthy lifestyle and thereby strengthening their immune system. It can further be used for related matters, for more health checks, more research on resistance-building bacteria and viruses and for preventing diseases and their spreading as suggested below. I would be happy to help anybody with providing more ideas and concepts including preparing a detailed plan as described on my web page World Problems .

Ideas and concepts for solving the problem

1. Start early health education in school

1. Our health is the most important thing in our life and should be treated accordingly by giving it enough time as subject in schools. Teach not only about general health but also about diseases.

2. Provide only healthy food and drinks in school canteens. They should be low-priced or free.

3. There should be at least four hours of physical exercise per week, not too competitive but with incentives for the best achievements.

3. Free health examination for school kids should be carried out every year and their blood be tested perhaps every second year, followed up be certain treatments if necessary.
4. Give parents of students free health education from time to time.

2. Health at home and elsewhere

1. Show more health programs on television. Make them interesting; otherwise people turn them off.

2. Ban junk food commercials in children programs but give the food industry incentives to advertise only healthy food and subsidise such commercials.

3. Give fast food outlets tax breaks for selling healthy food, which can then be sold cheaper. This may lead to such outlets having the competitive advantage and others following their example.

4. Use money from a special health fund for establishing and maintaining more play grounds for children and sport fields for teenagers and adults, also for gyms for older people.

5. Increase the number of sport events with special prices, the costs subsidised.

6. Reward smokers if they give up their habit, and basically give non-smokers more advantages including teenagers that don’t smoke. (This is one of the ideas that can be further developed.)

3. Prevent diseases

1. Provide more comprehensive vaccinations for small children, the kind of injections depending on the country and the region where they live.

2. Keep everybody’s health on record and remind them when they need a repeat injection (e.g. against tetanus).

3. Provide free condoms for males, starting with teenagers. I suggest that health specialists should distribute them and advise the receiver at that occasion about relevant health risks.

4. The media should frequently help with informing and updating people about all essential health matters.

3. Teach schoolchildren more about preventing infections.

4. Prevent or slow down growing resistance of bacteria and viruses

1. Ban giving cattle, pigs and poultry antibiotics, if this is still the case. Instead, help farmers with new breeds of quickly growing animals and give them incentives.

2. Give people more information about bacteria and viruses and educate them about their differences, starting early in school. This would make it easier for doctors to resist wishes of some patients for unnecessary antibiotics.

3. On labels for medication explain the risk for not taking antibiotics as described.