In Sickness And In Health

It probably hasn't escaped your notice that this is the first post in a fair few months. In fact my 16 days of action post stands alone in a great chasm of time when I haven't otherwise blogged. For this I do feel guilty - being at and speaking at the UN General Assembly in September was an honour and an inspiration and I had hoped to share more with you in the subsequent weeks and months. 

Whilst I haven't been blogging, I have learnt some important lessons. I always tried to give 110%, in my work, my volunteering and in my advocacy. In total that adds up to roughly 330% and a pretty unsustainable amount of effort. The impact of this really hit me in October and I have been in poor health on and off since then. It has taken this for me to realise that whilst volunteering and advocacy might be really important to me, my health has to come first sometimes. 

It's like knowing there's probably something up with your car and keeping driving regardless, eager to make it to the destination. Odds are you'll break down before you get there and all in all it'll take a lot longer than popping to the garage as soon as you realise something's up. 

After a lot of to and fro with my GP and trying different things, I have now been referred to a hospital and have tests coming up this week to hopefully get to the bottom of the problem. I am most thankful that I'm currently living in a country with funded health care. Having had bronchitis in the USA last year with only limited travel insurance, I know this episode of poor health would be a lot more daunting if I wasn't in the uk right now. That doesn't mean that it's not worrying me a lot - the not knowing what the answer is going to be, and the loss of earnings for on and off sick days. But it is reassuring to know that whatever happens I'm not going to be bankrupted, or not get treated because I can't afford it, and for that I am extremely thankful. 

Health is an issue that I have heard talked about in Post 2015 agenda discussions. It was covered in several ways in the mDGs - the public health issues of water and sanitation and the targeting of specific diseases like HIV, malaria and TB. I think there is no doubt that it will be including in the new agenda in some form and it would be great to see the connections made for joined up thinking. Education, the environment, and being able to live a life free from violence will all increase health and well being globally. One key ask I have for the new global development agenda is that we take a holistic approach and we don't think about the 'problems' in silos. 

I'd love to see mental health included in the agenda in some form - but I think holistic thinking about physical health is the furthest we are going to achieve. I haven't yet seen any mental health NGOs engaging in the ongoing post 2015 consultation process and if those voices aren't putting their proposals on the table now it's difficult to see it being realised. I might be wrong though - if you've seen a mental health constituency putting post 2015 proposals out there, let me know.