The BMJ interview: Sir Liam Donaldson: Avoiding the painful truth and scapegoats

What is the relationship between health and sickness?

13 December 2006

Like the two ends of a seesaw, health and sickness have an inverse
relationship. As health goes up, sickness goes down. As health goes down,
sickness goes up. By balancing the seesaw in favor of health, we can avoid

sickness and the merry-go-round of endless doctors. Sadly, most doctors
focus on sickness, but ignore health. Doctors define health as the absence
of
sickness. But health is more than the absence of sickness, just as life is
more
than the absence of death. Health is our most important goal, just as life
is
our most important possession.

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: None declared

Hugh Mann, physician

Eagle Rock, MO 65641

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