Nothing in this world is as valuable as good health. A healthy world is indeed a wealthy world. No wonder, Good Health and Well-being is among the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. Incidentally, April 7th happens to be World Health Day. The theme of this year’s WHD is “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere.” This theme must have been inspired by the ideology of people like Plato who declares, that “The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” Universal Health Coverage is therefore a means of ensuring that everyone, everywhere can have access to quality health services without any financial hindrance.
Reflecting on this year’s World Health Day I kept wondering if Nigeria is among the UN countries that promotes universal Health coverage. If yes, why then do we have to fly our politicians and even their children to London and other parts of the world for medical treatment? When will Nigeria have a reliable medical facilities that can take care of its citizens irrespective of their status or political affiliation?
Politicians are not the only ones that have failed in medical care. Most Religious Leaders are taking health care ministry for granted. Whereas few healing ministers are using it as an avenue to make money. In most healing centers people pay through their noise to acquire olive oil and ‘anointed water.’ Whereas our Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples, “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment” (Matthew 10:8). Health care ministry must be available and affordable. If the government fails in providing health care for the people the Church ministers should not fail.
Jesus Christ did not just declare Healing for all or what we may call universal health coverage, he actually demonstrated it in his healing ministry. His healing ministry was not limited to specific people. Everyone including the rich and the poor benefited from his healing ministry. The gospel of Matthew 12:15 declares, “Great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.” All the sick, without exception, who encountered him received their healing.
The Holy Father declares “Health care ministry will always be a necessary and fundamental task, to be carried out with renewed enthusiasm by all, from parish communities to the largest healthcare institutions… Doctors and nurses, priests, consecrated men and women, volunteers, families and all those who care for the sick, take part in this ecclesial mission.” (Pope Francis). Indeed, all hands must be on deck!
Universal Health Coverage or what we call healing for all is the essence of the healing ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. There were so many passages in the Christian Bible where Jesus Christ declared healing for all or what we have today as universal health coverage. His healing ministry was not limited to specific people. The rich and the poor, the old and the young – they all benefited from his healing ministry. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick” (Matthew 8:16). According this passage all the sick people who were brought to Jesus that evening received their healing. None of them went home with their sickness. Even those who were possessed received their deliverance.
The gospel of Mark presents our Lord Jesus Christ as one who reaches out to people, especially the sick. He did not just wait for people to bring the sick ones to where he reside. As he was moving around he was healing the sick. “Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well” (Mark 6:56). People brought to Jesus all kinds of sicknesses. As they touched him they were all restored to good health.
Unlike Mark who said that People were the ones struggling to touch Jesus, for Luke it was actually our Lord Jesus Christ that touched the sick: “When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” (Luke 4:40). As our Lord Jesus Christ was touching the sick, their sicknesses were disappearing. This continued until they were all healed, to the glory of God.
When the people eventually discovered that our Lord Jesus Christ possessed the healing power they were following him up and down: “But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.” (Luke 9:11) When Jesus saw the sick crowed coming after him, he did not rebuke them. Instead, He received them, preached to them and then heal delivered them from their infirmities.
Health care is among the few mandates that our Lord Jesus Christ gave his disciples. According to him, healing and deliverance is among the signs of a true disciple: “these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18). A true disciple is not one who has the highest academic qualification. He is not the one with the highest ecclesiastical position or authority. A true disciple is one who uses the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to preach and bring healing to the sick.
The early apostles used the power of the resurrection to bring healing to the sick and the afflicted. A typical example is the case of Peter and the crippled man at the Beautiful gate. When Peter saw the crippled man, he did not ignore him. Instead he looked intently at him said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. (Acts 3:5-8). This is what is expected of every authentic Man of God. The name of our Lord Jesus Christ is the channel of heal, deliverance and restoration. With his name we can heal our sick world. We can even use his name to heal the various sicknesses that are destroying people’s life in our world today.
Finally, heaven helps those who help themselves. Dear reader, you need to know the importance of health. And you need to take good care of yourself. You don’t necessarily have to wait for the government of the Church ministers before you could take proper medication. As Josh Billings rightly declares, “Health is like money, we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.” You don’t need to breakdown before visiting the doctors or spiritual directors. A Spanish proverb declares “A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” Negligence of your health is the worst thing you can do to yourself.
Apart from going to hospital there are few simple things you can do to help yourself live a healthy life. According to William Londen “To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.” In addition, A Irish Proverb declares “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” With this, you shall begin to enjoy health of mind and body which Cardinal Newman describes as a great blessing: “Health of body and mind is a great blessing, if we can bear it.” John Henry
Cardinal Newman
I want to use this medium to express my appreciation to all those who are providing health care either as medical doctors, non-governmental organizations, government and healing ministers. And I also use this medium to appeal to all, especially the government and non-governmental organizations to provide healthcare for all the citizens, especially those who are living bgt5fv4rin the rural areas and those who may not afford foreign medical treatments. God bless you as you provide healthcare facilities and treatments for the sick. And I wish you Happy World Health Day!
