My ideal minister of health
- Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK
- Correspondence to: Professor K McPherson; Klim.McPherson{at}bristol.ac.uk
Will have the guts to maximise health
The perfect minister of health would have to understand about health—not so much the desperate manifestations of ill health. Such a person would have to understand that a large proportion of chronic illness—at least until age 75 or thereabouts is essentially avoidable. Then health policy might change so that in the longer run the population served would be healthier and the expenditure of medical services proportionately less. That should be their objective.
But all that requires courage and a commitment to experiment sensibly and efficiently. Policy would incorporate, as matter of course, rigorous evaluation components …
