“Health is wealth” is one of the most common and convincing proverbs, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that “health makes wealth” too. Nations that maintain good health conditions for their people show stronger and faster economic growth as compared to the nations with poor health conditions. According to its definition, Health is the complete state of physical, mental and social wellbeing; lack of any of these factors can have a negative impact on the productivity of a person or an organization, causing a setback to progress.
Since ancient times, health has been a major concern for humankind and people have been exploring and researching ways and means of fighting diseases and maintaining good health. Medical science has seen tremendous advancements over centuries and has been successful in finding cure for most of the diseases which were once considered incurable; but there are still many health related issues that pose great threat to humanity and need to be resolved urgently. Maternal mortality and infant mortality is still a big challenge in some countries. Millions of children are still undernourished and about 6 million children below five years of age are still dyeing each year, globally. HIV-AIDS, Cancer, Malaria, and tuberculosis continue to take millions of lives in Developing countries, despite strong actions by their Governments and other organizations. Mental health issues are on a rise in both developing and developed nations, and are often ignored; they lead to suicides and other crimes, when left untreated. Nearly 13% of the world’s population is affected by mental health and substance use disorders. These figures are likely to increase further at an alarming rate.
The COVID pandemic has highlighted the importance of health, hygiene and sanitization; in fact health is presently the topmost priority at both individual and national level. We have also learnt that health cannot be considered as a personal matter anymore; an individual’s health condition may affect the health of an entire community and further a nation, during the outbreak of infectious diseases. Humanity has witnessed the havoc caused by COVID-19 virus, when the entire world came to a standstill due to the lockdowns followed by the spread of the pandemic, reversing decades of progress towards development.
SDG3
Contemplating the importance of health and wellness in a nation’s development, the United Nations launched the goal “Good Health and Well Being”(SDG3) in 2015, as a part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. Since the launch of SDG3, significant progress had been made towards reducing maternal and infant mortality, improving healthcare services and treating infectious diseases; but the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the entire healthcare system of the world. the world now needs to double its efforts towards achieving SDG3.
Role of business
Why is health important for business?
For the success of any business, it is very important to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for its employees. When employees work in a safe, clean and hygienic workplace, they tend to work more efficiently which results in good productivity, further leading to good returns.
Work stress, posture related health issues and accidents at workplace are majorly responsible for absenteeism, which causes around 5% reduction in the productivity of employees. Maintaining hygiene and cleanliness and following safety measures at workplace, reduces the risks of accidents and diseases which hamper smooth running of business processes.
How can business help achieve SDG3
Business plays a crucial role in achieving SDGs as it provides financial support, access to markets, supply chain management and innovative solutions for implementation of SDGs. companies can engage with SDG3 in three ways:
Promoting and ensuring good health and well-being of employees:
COVID -19 has changed the entire work culture of companies. Health and safety is now the top priority for employee engagement and companies must take necessary actions to ensure good health and well-being of their employees.
Some ways of ensuring good health at workplace:
- Providing clean water
- Providing sanitation and hygiene
- Following work safety norms
- Making Ergonomic changes to avoid back pain
- Making changes in production line to avoid stress
- Conducting health check-ups
- Providing health insurance cover
- Engaging in stress relieving activities
Developing innovative business plans aligned with SDG3:
Research and development is the key to innovative business idea. A company that wishes to venture into an SDG3 aligned business must study the general health and environmental conditions of the region where it wishes to operate. To establish a sustainable business in SDG3, it is very important to collect data regarding:
- General health conditions of people living in the region
- Diseases prevailing in the region
- Age group specific health issues
- Deficiencies prevailing in the people belonging to the region
- Environmental conditions affecting the health of people
- Health related goods and services that are required most by the people living in the region
- After analysing the data thoroughly, new products or services could be developed.
Collaborating with start-ups
Many start-ups are coming up with innovative products and services for improving health of people, companies can choose to collaborate with the start-ups that correspond with their company profile and add benefits like market expansion, additional revenue generation and cost effectiveness
Start-up ideas in SDG3:
- AI technology based drug development.
- App based primary health care services which would avoid waiting time and contact with other patients.
- Digital clinics for treating mental health issues would help people who hesitate to share their problems in person.
- App based Health care facilities delivered at home.
- Innovative solutions to prevent spreading of contagious diseases.
There are many start-ups working around healthcare and many more are needed to boost up the implementation of SDG3. Presently, COVID and Post COVID care are the most important areas that need innovative solutions to help the world recover fast from this deadly pandemic. Along with drugs and vaccines, the world needs more health solutions to avoid such disasters in future.
