The "SOME PEOPLE" Essays
How Do You Define Health? The Voices of Do No Harm | Edited by Kimberly J. Soenen
(The late colleague, friend and mentor Dr. Arnie Widen and the editor. Chicago, 2019.)
Arnold Widen, MD (1929-2022)
Emeritus Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Faculty member at Feinberg School of Medicine since 1960
United States of America Army Medical Officer, Active Duty, 1956-1958
Number of years practicing medicine: 54
HOW DO YOU DEFINE HEALTH?
Healthcare is a human need.
Almost everyone ascribes to the slogan, “Healthcare is a human right.” Healthcare is much more; it is truly a human need.
The condition of good health is a prerequisite for a life that is happy, productive, and meaningful. But to truly attain all of the benefits of personal good health, we must be immersed in a culture of good health so that our pleasure is enhanced and intensified by the happiness of all of the people with whom we interact.
A healthy culture absolutely requires high-quality healthcare for all members of the culture, and this can be attained only by a healthcare system that is available to all people. Such a system can only exist if healthcare is economically supported for all people; in other words, by a universal healthcare system that is maintained by a universal governmental system. Universal healthcare is not an impossible dream; it successfully exists in almost all of the advanced societies on earth.
We, who live in a nation without universal healthcare, must dedicate ourselves to the establishment of that system in the US. It can be done.