Our health paradigm in peril

Health care systems are rapidly shifting attention from providing health care to producing health, profoundly altering how and which services are provided. To free up individual and collective resources for investment in activities with a greater impact on health, less care will be given. This paper posits that the current model--increased health resources make for better health care make for better health status--is too simplistic a system. Structural problems inherent in this model are being observed as the boundaries of the paradigm are pushed. Resources are limited, and health outcomes are no longer being improved despite the application of large percentages of Gross National Product. A new health paradigm is emerging, one with increased focus on health prerequisites such as housing, minimum decent income, food, education, and good social and physical environment.