{"id":5364,"date":"2018-06-26T17:21:56","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T17:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/?p=5364"},"modified":"2018-06-26T20:20:34","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T20:20:34","slug":"the-lancet-editorial-june-23-2018-corrected-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/the-lancet-editorial-june-23-2018-corrected-version\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lancet Editorial: June 23, 2018 (corrected version?)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the things I find annoying in medical publications is the nonsense use of the word “health” in place of medical terms.<\/p>\n

Below is a recent editorial published in the Lancet, with every incorrect use of the word “health” corrected to “medicine” or “medical”.<\/p>\n

Of course, I might have made some mistakes – it’s hard to know the intent of the authors when such propaganda motivated doublespeak, newspeak, doublethink, wordsmithing is so commonplace it becomes invisible. Every instance of the word HEALTH in the entire article that becomes more accurate when replaced by MEDICINE or MEDICAL.\u00a0 Judge for yourself.<\/p>\n

Health<\/del>Medical<\/strong>\u00a0Systems for Prosperity and Solidarity: Tallinn 2018<\/h2>\n

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Last week, ministers of health<\/del>medicine<\/strong>, policy makers in health<\/del>medicine<\/strong> and finance, patient organisations, and academic advisers met in Tallinn, Estonia, to discuss the future of European health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0systems. Under the stewardship of WHO’s Regional Office for Europe (WHO EURO), and hosted by Estonia’s President, Kersti Kaljulaid, and Minister of health<\/del>Sickness<\/strong> and Labour, Riina Sikkut, 250 or so representatives of WHO EURO member states\u00a0celebrated\u00a0the tenth anniversary of the Tallinn Charter and agreed on principles for building sustainable people-centred health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0systems.<\/p>\n

In 2008, the Tallinn Charter shaped thinking about the importance of health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0systems and the inter-relatedness of health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0treatments and wealth. The Charter committed signatory WHO EURO member states to improve health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0treatments by investing in and strengthening their health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0systems, and to promote the shared values of solidarity, equity, and participation. Underpinning the Charter were the principles that high-performing health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0systems contribute to better health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0and economic development, and that no one should become poor because of illness.<\/p>\n

But later in 2008, the financial crisis hit, leading to hardship and widespread austerity measures in many member states and, in some, to deep cuts to health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>budgets. Tallinn Charter commitments were derailed, out-of-pocket health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>expenditure increased, and investment in health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems decreased in many countries. Nevertheless, the past decade has seen some metrics improve, such as life expectancy at birth and tuberculosis case detection. But progress is variable between and within countries, slow in many, and widespread inequalities persist.<\/p>\n

Where now for the Tallinn Charter? Last week saw renewed commitment to the fundamental principles of the Charter through adoption of three themes to achieve faster and more equitable health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>gains. Participants agreed to \u201cinclude, invest, and innovate\u201d to strengthen their health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems. Ministers of health<\/del>medicine\u00a0<\/strong>and policy makers agreed that the health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>needs of their populations can best be met by improving coverage, access, and financial protection; making the case for investing in health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems; and harnessing innovations in health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>care.<\/p>\n

How to improve inclusion, to ensure universal health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>coverage, was discussed in the context of financial protection. Health<\/del>Medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems play a crucial part in protecting individuals from the financial hardship caused when out-of-pocket payments for health<\/del>medicines<\/strong>, such as prescription charges or dental care, are greater than a household’s ability to pay. New evidence on financial protection was presented in Tallinn based on analyses across 25 European countries. Even with \u201cuniversal health<\/del>medical<\/strong>\u00a0coverage\u201d, up to 8% of households in Europe cannot afford to pay for basic needs (food, rent, utility bills) after paying out-of-pocket charges, especially for medicines and dental care. These costs are still causing people to fall into poverty or to do without care; for many in Europe, medicines or dental care, or other health<\/del>medical<\/strong>-care costs, are simply not affordable. The risks are greatest where out-of-pocket payments are over 15% of total spending on health, especially if pro-poor policies are absent.<\/p>\n

It is still necessary to make the economic case for investing in health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems. Competing demands upon ministries of finance serve to emphasise the need to demonstrate good stewardship of public resources, including measures to reduce health<\/del>medical<\/strong>-system inefficiencies and waste, but there is now strong evidence that spending on health<\/del>medicine\u00a0<\/strong>contributes to better health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>outcomes, promotes macroeconomic growth, supports societal wellbeing, and enhances fiscal sustainability of health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems.<\/p>\n

It is important to strive for continuous improvement to health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems to benefit populations. Health<\/del>Medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems have been slow to innovate in many countries, but key factors that help include supportive leadership, early involvement of clinical staff, dedicated resources including funding, staff, and time, and evaluation of the benefits and costs. Remembering the needs of the public and patient is paramount\u2014innovations that are not needed, wanted, or are too complex will fail.<\/p>\n

Inclusion, investment, and innovation are useful themes to build sustainable health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>systems for the future. The key message from Tallinn 2018 is European solidarity to improve health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>outcomes, decrease inequalities, and deliver universal medical coverage. \u201cEverything we do to improve medical outcomes, decrease inequalities, and strengthen health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>security is fundamentally driven by our European social values of solidarity, equity, and universalism\u201d, Hans Kluge (WHO EURO) told\u00a0The Lancet<\/em>. Health<\/del>Medical<\/strong>systems must be person-centred and flexible to allow change and innovation. Leadership from health<\/del>medical\u00a0<\/strong>ministers, policy makers, academics, and clinicians will be crucial to implementing the recommendations from Tallinn 2018.<\/p>\n

==============================================<\/p>\n

I must confess, I find it hard to imagine what a Lancet article or editorial might look like if it actually used the word “health” to mean “health” instead of using it to refer to illness and medicine.\u00a0 I suspect that, given the dearth of studies of healthicine, they would have nothing to say.<\/p>\n

You can view the original version at the Lancet:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(18)31355-2\/fulltext?<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the things I find annoying in medical publications is the nonsense use of the word “health” in place of medical terms. Below is a recent editorial published in the Lancet, with every incorrect use of the word “health” … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5364"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5376,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364\/revisions\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}