OPINION: We have the answers, but not the wisdom and will to address our health challenges

By Sione Tu'itahi

One of the big lessons from Covid-19 is that we all die when we try to dominate each other and the planet. 

Because we are interdependent, we only live when we collaborate to sustain all, leaving no one behind. 

Five years later, not only it appears we have forgotten that vital lesson and natural law of life, but we have also reverted to solutions from obsolete habits of thoughts and actions, that lead to fruitless wars and mindless domination of fellow human beings and other relations, especially Papatūānuku, Mother Earth. 

The ultimate consequence is the accelerated pathway towards self-destruction that we are all unwillingly sliding towards.

Evidences of this polycrisis  abound here at home and abroad. As examples, the crisis within our health system is one of many across the public service sector and the rest of our community. The Russian-Ukraine conflagration, the Gaza Strip quandary, the geo-political dilemma in the Pacific, the world-impacting  conundrum in the United States, and the impotence of the UN Security Council and other global institutions and organisations to make  binding and fair decisions, are five of many and inter-related world examples.  

All of these are symptoms of one sick human race on a sick planet. All are due to one underlying cause - the follies of our one human family. Instead of working  together as autonomous parts of a whole system, we the parts, fight for fleeting resources and power.  And when the mess of our stupidity overwhelms us, we blindly hark back to our childhood as if lessons for toddlers can solve the new reality and complexity of adulthood.

At the end of it all, no one wins. But all of us, the big and small of all hues and shapes, will leave the same legacy for our grandchildren, a plot of dirt, six-foot deep on the wretched face of Mother Earth. That is, if we have not already perished in unwinnable wars, or become buried rubbles under our own rubbish.

Meanwhile, one thing is crystal clear from 21st century economics, quantum science,  philosophical, Indigenous, and spiritual knowledge systems. We flourish through unity in diversity; we perish in disunity. Because we are inextricably one in the web of life – from the molecular level to the planetary level, and beyond.

Out of the ruins of Covid-19 and other world calamities, and with learning from some of the knowledge sytems  mentioned earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced a new approach in its 2021 Geneva Charter for Well-being. It is an approach that lifts our gaze and thinking from the level where these problems were created, to a higher level where we can see our interdependence, and seek lasting solutions without clinging to old divisive ways of knowing, being and doing. 

The Charter underlines the “urgency of creating sustainable well-being societies, committed to achieving equitable health now and for future generations without breaching ecological limits".

It rightly points out that the world "faces complex and interrelated crises, but they impact countries in different ways,” and that “recent pandemics have exposed the fractures in society and highlighted the ecological, political, commercial, digital and social determinants of health and health inequities, within and between social groups and nations.

“Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, rapid urbanization, geopolitical conflict and militarization, demographic change, population displacement, poverty, and widespread inequity create risks of future crises even more severe than those experienced today.”

It states clearly that: “Responses require investments that integrate planetary, societal, community and individual health and well-being, as well as changes in social structures to support people to take control of their lives and health. Fundamental redirection of societal values and action consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are required."

So what are wellbeing societies and what are its foundations?  What are the new values, and what social structures need to be changed for the betterment of our common home as one human family?

The Charter advocates that, “Well-being societies provide the foundations for all members of current and future generations to thrive on a healthy planet, no matter where they live.

Such societies apply bold policies and transformative approaches that are underpinned by: 

• A positive vision of health that integrates physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. 

• The principles of human rights, social and environmental justice, solidarity, gender and inter-generational equity, and peace. 

• A commitment to sustainable low-carbon development grounded in reciprocity and respect among humans and making peace with Nature. 

• New indicators of success, beyond gross domestic product, that take account of human and planetary wellbeing and lead to new priorities for public spending. • The focus of health promotion on empowerment, inclusivity, equity, and meaningful participation.”

The Geneva Charter, is one of several frameworks for solutions that have emerged over the last decade to address our health challenges at local and global levels. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are well known  to most nations and world leaders.

Two other such frameworks for human wellbeing and  planetary health are the IUHPE Position Paper on  Planetary Health and Indigenous World Views and Knowledges, and the Planetary Health Alliance’s Global Road Map for Planetary Health and Action Plan.  A local equivalent of these global instruments is Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

In other words, the tools and solutions are already in our hands. The wisdom and will are the missing dimensions. 
As the Geneva Charter rightly argues, health and wellbeing “depend on the actions of everyone in society”.

Futhermore, the Charter calls upon “non-governmental and civic organizations, academia, business, governments, international organizations and all concerned to engage in partnerships for decisive implementation of strategies for health and well-being. Together this will drive the transformation towards well-being societies in all countries, leaving no one behind”. 

In short, let’s go back to basic and first principles. All  human constructs start in the mind. A thought of war, therefore, can be quelled by a thought of peace; a poisonous thought of hatred must be remedied by a healing thought of love. Lives and resources saved from human savagery due to stupidity, can build an equitable, peaceful and prosperous world for all. There is enough for all human needs, but not for our self-interest and greed. In our inseparability, the answer to all problems is collaboration within our unity in diversity. Unity in homogenity is disintergratively terminal.  

Let’s start by first becoming the change we want the world to be. ‘But where should I start?,’ you might ask. I suggest start where you are now. If you are the leader of a nation, ensure that all public policies are healthy, addressing the wellbeing of your people and the planet equitably. Heads of international and national organisations can do the same. Your people will  remember you for being wise and on the right side of history.  

(Left, Sione pictured in 2019 with his only granddaughter Tahila following his acceptance of the Public Health Champion Award from the Public Health Association of NZ. Like her grandfather Tahila cares for the environment and people, and has been working on several environmental projects. )  

If you are a parent, use your right and duty to advocate and vote for the wellbeing of all, especially your children and grandchildren. After all, right now, you are borrowing  from their future in order to live. 

As a caring grandfather and President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) I will welcome co-workers and friends from around the world to the IUHPE 2025 World Conference from May 13-16, Abu Dhabi, on behalf of the grandchildren of the world.

With its propitious theme, Settings for Planetary Health and Well-being,  be assured that we will strategise for the wellbeing of all. it will be my honour to welcome you as fellow planetary health promoters.

(Banner photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)