I believe many of us have come to know about the way the pharma industry works. Exorbitant prices to the end consumer. A greater part of the realization gets eaten up by providing incentives to the supply chain prescribing the brands and the rest goes to the company. There are a couple of issues which, till now, was restricting Governments to generalize this industry.

1. Taxes paid by these companies having set up subsidiaries and main offices.

2. Quality issue. The general understanding is higher the price better quality. Does it stand true for an industry like pharmaceuticals? After all it deals with same chemical composition.

The increasing acceptance of internet has helped end consumers making knowledgeable. There are multiple websites which now provide information on the medicine, its components and substitutes. Of course, they might not cover all of them, but most part of it. So, one can browse all the substitutes and be knowledgeable and take an informed decision.

Now, recently India tried to enforce a law which makes it mandatory for doctors to write generic names(molecule or component name). These names will be, as per discussion, 2 fonts larger than the brand name and bold letters. So, what this does is, make us aware of the molecule or medicine in the brand. Suppose, if such law is passed, will end consumers choose a brand for themselves? I mean, is the law sufficient by itself? Looks not! The consumers should also be provided with the information on quality standards in place with every brand they choose. That means, setting up strict quality standards which can be understood by all and mentioned on the medicine packaging. Also, the pharma associates, the retail pharmacies, online platforms should help disseminate such information. This will setup a good base for long term strategic action towards helping people at large

Law or no law, we should all equip ourselves with such knowledge.

Education should be a journey to understand the What, Why and How of ourselves and the systems around us. Education should enable us to use the learning to improve the situations around us and solve problems. Of course, there is a capitalistic angle to it, because we live in a capitalistic system. Hence, there arises a need to create economical solutions to problems around us. Education creates the base for us to use the knowledge to solve problems

One such problem is the growing concern of deteriorating health situation across the World. We are looking at two main drivers of pressing concerns in health - Obesity and Diabetes. These two are the most pressing situations across the World today. Cardiovascular problems and Cancer are slowly growing to the stage of the previous two.

Obesity, according to research and studies, leads to Diabetes, cardiovascular problems and Cancer. We are providing some links below to support the previous statement. Of course, there are genetic factors involved too, but the genetic mutations would not have happened suddenly. Mutations are a slow process and changes usually take place from generation to generation

What has lead to the velocity with which Obesity and other linked health conditions have grown. The problem points towards the lack of knowledge of what's inside the food we eat and how our bodies digest it, isn't it? We are not aware and an effort was not made through our education system to make us aware about it. We are still confused today with so much information available through the digital medium, because the information has arrived in volumes that it is hard which to believe and which not. It looks like the situation is moving faster than the solutions for them and we have reached a stage where it is difficult for people to be motivated to start the change from inside

Any problem, for it to be solved comprehensively, should start from the base or core. Here the core is the need to consume the right food. What's the right food? That which provides the recommended nutrition the body on a daily basis. Those with existing health conditions should consult their Doctors for the right mix of food to eat. But, how do we know whether the recommended nutrition from a Government organisation is right? Recently there have been some questions raised on the recommendation provided by Government bodies. It is for us along with our family Doctors to embark on this journey and make the right adjustments to reach the right mix of food to be consumed

Education, when rightly done, should happen peer to peer. We should help each other in such effort to be effective. We would be ineffective to say the Government should do it. And when it is the matter of health, nothing should motivate more to us than having a healthy body and mind because without these we will not be able to carry our duties effectively

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4259868/

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/obesity/obesity-fact-sheet

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jdr/2018/3407306/

1. Capitalism seen doing 'more harm than good' in global survey

2. Can Capitalism Be Fixed by Making Companies More Just? - Harvard Review

3. COVID-19 Was a Trigger, But Capitalism Caused the Economic Crash

4. Capitalism at Dusk

5. Will corona virus signal the end of capitalism?

I have given the above links as a precursor to the article I am writing here. I believe you all can relate the articles to what has been written below

I am a firm believer that our education system should teach everyone of us of how the systems around us work, quite early in our education. The most important system that we should all be taught about is how the Banking and the Finance system works, because the whole Economic system throughout the World is run by Money and its affiliates. The World is round and cyclical, so is the Banking & Finance system

For those of you who want to understand the origins of the Banking and Finance system, I suggest you read this - Promise to Pay by Robert McNair Wilson which goes into the depth of how the Banking system got developed. The present day Banking system which works on fractional reserve basis, holds close resemblance to what the book talks about. Before you read further, I would like to request you to read the book to understand the system better

Now, how does the system work? We have a Central Bank at helm in each Country which are further governed by the World Bank and the likes of IMF. Every Country's Government requests the Central Bank to lend Money to facilitate the people of the Country to use the Money to produce Goods and Services which are of help to fellow people in both own Country and Internationally. This Money comes with a request of an Interest to be paid back along with the Money issued. The Government uses this Money to fund the projects of National interest while the Central Bank circulates the Money through subsidiary banks through the fractional reserve route. So, The Central Bank asks for an interest to be paid back along with the original amount of Money while the Government asks for taxes to be paid back. But, how does this extra Money gets created?

The system trusts people to use the Money to produce such Goods & Services which can facilitate the repayment of the Loan or the Money undertaken. In simple terms, everyone who undertakes the Money, should use it to create a surplus return than the interest rate and the taxes at stake. Here is the systemic fault! It is like a never ending cycle of creating such Goods & Services which can repay the debt. Forget about the Goods & Services which are needed - Food, Shelter and Clothing. They system goes on a frantic mode to create not so necessary Goods & Services and create demand for such Goods & Services. That is why we see killer competition and unethical marketing practices to sell such Goods & Services. We see advertisements and attractive marketing campaigns about such Goods & Services everyday. One such example is that of Cigars and Cigarettes created in the period between the Years 1970-2000 which bears its impact till date. How can we justify such acts? Go back to the fault in the system! A good example of a system which has not gained trust in the system is that of the US which is staring at extremely low interest rates for a very long time now

What happens when the trust in the system fails? When the system fails to create Goods & Services which can create surplus profits after considering the interest rate and taxes? We stare at Economic Depressions! It will not be surprising to know that we stare at such Economic Depression every 10-20 Years. Today, we have many Countries in the European region which are staring at a default to repay the loans undertaken. Forget, loan default from individuals, we have many such Countries staring at default! Should we blame people and Corporate for not creating enough profit creating Goods and Services? Economists around the World have been trying to answer this question since the start of the Banking system

No matter what solutions they propose to build a sustainable Economic system, the systemic fault still remains. Taxing the rich, quantitative easing, monetary policies are just temporary adjustments to keep the system rolling. This is also the reason why we see very few instances of a budget surplus with Governments

But, how can we look at solving such a problem? Going back to the basics should be the first step! Ensuring that the system helps everyone have the basic needs - Food, Shelter and Clothing. Post that, there should be a protracted improvement in terms of Goods and Services which can marginally improve the standard of Living. This is easier to write and say than do, given the chaotic World Economic system of today! But, the change has to start somewhere! Maybe, if every individual or a family sticks to the basics and helps people around with their needs, can we see a possible solution?

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The CoVid 19 crisis has brought about a new way to create and market products. Having a strong immunity looks to be the best way to fight it. The vaccines also do the same work in helping the body build antibodies against the virus strain. While the World has witnessed many viruses over the last two Centuries, the severity and the way the virus grows into the body means that we need to be strong in immunity

But, what is immunity? And how does the body develop its immunity? It is not that immunity has only come into the fore now! Our past generations have fought against various viruses and other bodily attacks successfully in the absence of vaccines and modern medicines and healthcare facilities

Immunity is a naturally occurring phenomenon when you do basic things right. Eating nutritious food which satisfies your need for both macro and micro nutrients, keeping your body fit through engaging in physical activity and following the day's rise and sleep cycles properly. Your body has the ability to ward off various attacks by bacteria and viruses. A healthy body does this by developing antibodies to fight such attacks. As long as your body is healthy, it can fight against any such attacks

What has happened now? Don't we have immune strong bodies? Or have we made ourselves weak on immunity by not doing the basic things right? If we compare the CoVid situation across Countries, we can get an idea. The USA, where people mostly eat super processed foods without keeping the body fit, has the largest number of cases. To cross check on this, we can check on the level of obesity in Americans. While in India, we are seeing good recovery rates despite having a large part of the population in poverty. Of course, this comparison has to be taken in the context of following safety norms like wearing a mask and maintaining social distance etc

The opportunity to create and market products which can help you stay safe and be immune strong has arisen out of this situation. Every brand out there is trying to capitalise on this opportunity. We have a biscuit brand coming up with biscuits with immune boosting herbs, a dish-wash brand coming up with herbs induced soap which protects your hands, and many other brands are promoting the immune building ability of products. Being in a capitalist system, there is nothing wrong in such products

One such example is below

But, it is the question of short term and long term. Should we use these short term beneficial products or take the long route to make ourselves knowledgeable and take the steps to make ourselves healthy and immune?

What will you choose?

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Covid-19 & Preventive Health mindset?

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it a huge amount of uncertainty. With the way it is mutating itself and changing behavior, virologists are facing a difficult time to predict how it can act. We have seen a good amount of variation in how the virus has affected various parts of the World. Whereas we have seen the maximum number of fatalities in the US, Taiwan has seen fewer than 10 deaths till now. This data for sure has to be studied as to what caused so many deaths in the US while a small Country like Taiwan has braved the crisis with very few deaths

One of the leading causes, according to reports emerging, is Obesity. Obesity which in most cases leads to cardiac problems and metabolic syndrome, has been seen to worsen the effects of the virus. With Obesity prevalent in a higher amount of population in the US compared to other Countries, we can see a close correlation on why the virus has caused more fatalities in the US. We can see a correlation in the UK too, where Obesity is relatively high compared to Asian Countries

With confirmed reports of the virus not being effective in people with strong immunity, building a strong immunity has emerged as the only way to help ourselves keep safe from the virus. The Asian Countries, where practices like Yoga and other forms of physical workout practices, are seeing an increased acceptance and practice of preventive health practices. Nutrition is also coming into the fore, where people are starting to practice eating nutritious foods along with herbs that are good for health . The availability of the internet also makes acquiring knowledge about the preventive health practices easy. While it remains difficult for those who are suffering from multiple health disorders, the interest towards keeping ourselves healthy has reached a high

Can this development take a hit on the prospects of the Healthcare and Insurance sectors. If so, should these sectors realign the services? If so, how? We are referring to the mainstream healthcare services like Hospitals and practicing Doctors. Logically, leaving the current population with multiple health disorders, these preventive health measures will initiate a progress towards health of people, which means less number of people falling sick and incidence of serious cases in the lower age group. Logically this looks to have a negative effect on the economic prospects of Hospitals. How can Hospitals align their services to account for this? Apart from realigning their services towards a more preventive health paradigm, there is not much that such services can do. If people really go aggressive on preventive health practices, the age groups which apply to the Hospitals will be those above 55-60 Years and below 5 Years. But, the argument that people are lazy towards keeping themselves healthy has also held good till now. Time will only tell whether we really adopt preventive health practices in the long run or this will be a short run trend

Can this result in an increase in wellness centers? Can we see an increase in acceptance of herbal and ayurvedic preventive health products? Traditional medicine has been present in Asian Countries for a long time now. With reports of herbs improving the immunity of the Human body, we are already seeing an increasing acceptance of medicinal herbs and spices in our lifestyle. Yoga has emerged as a mainstream preventive health practice, with a few treatment centers including Yoga in the treatment plan for Covid-19 patients. On plain sight, this should result in an increase in Yoga centers around us, but how consistently will people follow Yoga has to be seen in the coming Year or two

How can this affect the Insurance sector? Logically, those who follow preventive health measures should fall less sick. Hence, there is lesser need of availing the insurance amount for a healthcare situation. However, Insurance should and will continue to be of rescue in emergency situations. Logically, the premium amount for people consistently indulging in preventive health practices should be low. Modeling the Insurance schemes for such people would not be easy because of the lower amount of data available. Can Insurance schemes be modeled and premium amounts decided based on a daily basis, or for that matter an hourly basis? Can this make the schemes more accountable? For this, Doctors have to be included in the loop too. Preventive Health mindset and practice is for sure going to affect how Insurance schemes are designed and delivered

The fact that many of us have not yet inculcated a preventive health mindset till now also has to be taken into account. The availability of an insurance policy which can reimburse our healthcare expenses influences us to be lazy towards taking those preventive health measures. Do we really take up preventive health measures or we will continue to be lazy towards it, only time will tell us

References

• https://www.worldobesity.org/news/statement-coronavirus-covid-19-obesity

• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html

• https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

• https://www.ayurvedamagazine.org/ayurveda/articledetail/756/-Ayurveda-clinical-trial-shows-positive-results-in-Covid-19-patients-

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