Health Solutions

Sri Lankans believe that health problems are directly linked to the lack of financial resources to buy good quality medicines and medical equipment. It is true that nowadays in Sri Lanka, it can be difficult to treat a medical condition, but the real question is this: how did it happen in the first place that we came to have a medical condition that needs to be treated? 

Treating a medical condition should always be an option of last resort and should never be something that is the primary function of a good health care system. The prevention of any medical condition should always be the primary goal of any healthcare system. By doing so, citizens would be healthier and happier.

Most of our modern health problems are related to our daily habits. Stress is a big part of what makes us unhealthy. While the constant financial stress of not having enough money is significant, the biggest problem with stress arise primarily from our desire to conform, by any means necessary, to our society. Being who we are, without worrying about what others may think of us, is the key to happiness!

Bad eating habits are another problem for our health. Why do we eat unhealthy fatty foods and junk food... Why do we choose to destroy the environment by using chemicals on everything (fertilizer, perfumed soap, chemical shampoo...) and polluting the air we breathe and the water we drink? Eventually, we will eat all our garbage because they will end up in the plants, fruits, vegetables, fishes and animals we eat! It's no surprise that we develop cancer and other medical conditions...

Exercising regularly is also a good way to maintain our health. Physical exercise increases blood circulation in your body, which in turn brings nutrients and oxygen to all your cells. It increases our energy level, strengthens our immune system, reduces our stress level and improves our mental state! So turn off your TV, leave your smartphone at home and go play outside...

Maintaining healthy habits

Learning to relax and meditate to reduce stress and be happy, learning good eating habits, learning to properly throw away and recycle everything we no longer need or want (including waste), disciplining ourself on doing daily physical exercises... all of this costs almost nothing, but could prevent so many health problems!

Community health centers should be established to educate the population on all of the above solutions as part of a public health care program. Participation should be compulsory in order to obtain a card for the free public health care program.

Using simple technology

An open source database containing disease information, symptoms and images should be developed. By sharing the database with the world, it would increase the cooperation of volunteer and reduce its development cost. A smartphone application providing access to this database could be developed. An A.I. algorithm (artificial intelligence) could provide pre-diagnostics and potential solutions. This could be done either by browsing the database or by providing an image of our problem.

Thanks to Internet, we could have an online AI automated medical consultation for diagnosis or access to a real doctor via video chat...

Producing our own generic drug is a viable alternative. These are royalty-free and the necessary equipment is affordable. Moreover, we could develop and manufacture open source medical equipment. This could be part of the nationalized industry program.

Thus, by using the creativity and ingenuity of the Sri Lankan people, the financial burden on the health system could be significantly reduced, and the population would be healthier and happier!