Each day, millions of well-intended healthcare professionals, scientists, and public health officials work diligently to improve our health. Their work has had a profoundly positive impact on global health over the past 50 years and deserves our admiration.
To borrow the metaphor from the 1999 eponymous movie classic, we have all been living in a “matrix” for decades with respect to our health.
Life inside the healthcare matrix has its benefits but is incomplete and self-limiting. Once we escape from this matrix, we will realize the following:
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The suffering we endure to achieve longevity is unacceptable and unnecessary.
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Mental, social, and spiritual health are as important as physical health and are deeply interconnected.
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Health is mostly about our ability to function, not just about disease and death.
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Health exists on a spectrum: we can’t achieve optimal health if we don’t define, measure, or strive for it.
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Most drivers of health sit outside conventional healthcare systems and are modifiable.
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Achieving great health is as much about what we pursue as what we avoid.
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People are more than patients; they deserve to be empowered with greater health literacy.
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History suggests that the societal adaptations required to improve health are feasible; every person and institution on Earth has a role to play.
The arguments in this article are globally relevant, although we acknowledge that, in some contexts, the lack of physical or economic security may severely limit the positives and potential of other drivers of health.
