On an intellectual level we knew it all the time, the state of a nation’s health determines the productivity of the population.
The less incidents of illness, the less down time or absenteeism in the workforce. It follows therefore, looking at humans as units of production, more work will be done across a given time.
In a pre-corona era it was ok to tallk about dealing with illness after the fact. Treatment instead of prevention. In fact the global health system is geared towards treating rather than preventing illness.
That will have to change. The major line of defence against the corona virus, like almost any other virus, is a robust immune system. An emphasis on good nutrition, proper hygiene, sanitation and regular exercise are good preventative measures. And that even if the virus gets past ones best preventative measures the body will be able to fight back and, God willing, prevail.
On a global level how will this change the way government’s budget and companies view their balance sheets?
The Corona virus has exposed global health systems. The response time to the pandemic has been found wanting.
Health surveillance systems were caught flat footed and even when they woke up to the danger, they were slow to respond in a coordinated and coherent manner.
And when the disease started tearing through the population our infrastructure – hard and soft, was found lacking.
There are video clips of Bill Gates that have gone viral, of him warning years ago that the next big challenege will be from microbes and we are not ready.
Around the world health systems response have swung from incompetence of poorly resourced public facilities to the mercenary indifference of private health care. Neither coud rise to the occassion when they were called upon and in future this will have to change.
On an individual level we have become addicted to processed, convenient foods that have pushed instances of obsessity to historically high levels, caused a pandemic of non-communicable diseases and generally made us all vulnerable to opportunistic infection.
It is clear that health has to become a bigger priority in national budgets, and not only about building health facilities but also investments in educating health workers, research and development and health cover for all have to be prioritised to fend off the next pandemic.
In companies, health will have to find a place on the balance sheets and health cover will assume greater importance. Exercise facilities will not be an expense item the bean counters scratch off the budget.
About 15 years ago I visted a bank’s headquarters and was shocked to find they had a world class health & fitness center, complete with gym, pool, indoor running track and squash cort. I asked how they justified the expense to the accountants and the human resource manager said they had enough evidence that members turned up to their desk earlier or stayed longer and could link that to higher productivity. They beat the traffic by coming in earlier or leaving later to use the gym, in the process pulling their own weight in the organisation. And that was before they showed that gym members were the least off on sick leave.
The losses to the world economy from the corona virus are going to run into trillions of dollars. That is the accounting description. In real terms it will mean lost jobs, diminished livelihoods and death.
You can place a nominal value on a person life if you count him as a unit or production of consumption. But that is not even half the picture of his economic output, not to mention his contribution to the economic out put of the other people around him, if he keeps healthy.
How do you value the loss of a spouse who through holding up their part of running the home allows the spouse to perform optimally at work? How do you value the contribution of a well child to mummy’s output in the ofice? If a worker can still get work done despite illness how much more would they produce when in perfect health?
I think even on the most cosmetic of levels that accounting is, a case can be made that companies that pay attention to their staff’s health are more productive to those that don’t – even if you use the measure of profitability per staff member.
The bean counters may come around, but I think it is too soon to say.
Corona is not about to run its course, what with stories of reinfection emerging from China, it will be around for a while to come, at least until the end of next year if a vaccine is out in the next 12 months.
By that time i can guarantee you health, more than not being sick, will occupy central position in our consciosness.
It is not the first time in human history. The global improvements in hygeine and sanitation were a response to the pandemics that swept through Europe in the middle ages.
The rich thought they were insulated from the filth and squalor of the lower classes, before these became epicenters of genocidal plagues and the rich realised they had to uplift everyone’s standards if they were to survive. And that is how public health budgets took on greater importance in western Europe.
Will corona do the same for us? Let us wait and see.
Wash your hands!
