“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.—Chicago Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, 1966
“When I was a kid, the disaster we worried about most was a nuclear war. But today, if anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus, rather than a war.” — Bill Gates, 2015 TED talk
April 7th was World Health Day, and the World Health Organization’s theme this year is Universal Health with coverage for all by 2030.
With the world’s rise in population, growing income disparity, and the effects of climate change on health, Universal Healthcare has become a fundamental human right that is essential for the well being of the planet.
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| Vessel #81—Breach
In the 53 years since Martin Luther King spoke about the inequities of healthcare how far has the world progressed in overcoming these inequities?
• At least half of the world’s population is currently unable to obtain essential health services (World Health Organization-WHO, Dec. 2017)
• The effects of climate change are already having a profound effect on the spread of infectious diseases. 9 out of 10 people breathe unsafe air that results in 7 million deaths each year. (WHO, May 2018)
• More than 50% of the world lives with chronic disease (World Economic Forum, Jan. 2018)
* Since the current administration took office in 2017 the number of Americans without health insurance has increased by 7 million (National Health and Well-Being Index). Those that do have coverage saw their premiums rise by 34% in 2018. (Congressional Budget Office, May 2018).
• April 22 is Earth Day—Don’t forget to do something to improve the planet.
Breach
Tempers flare on the cusp of a bulging amaryllis.
Octopeds roam aimlessly with an androgynous gait,
sucking sap with inebriated abandon.
Tumors wake in the night
with an insatiable craving for healthy tissue,
dividing and scattering with the choreography
of a battalion reeling out of control.
The mission, defined by random improvisation,
begins with an order for the insurgents
to march into darkness and leave no survivors.
Somnolent heterotrophs spread their dormant blankets
on shelves lined with a mesozoic membrane.
Crystalline crust splits a glacial sentinel in Nome.
A bovine uterus entertains an entourage in a Chicago slaughterhouse.
A slumbering anemone shares its bed in a Somoan atoll.
The uninvited interloper folds
its pathogenic arms around an unsuspecting host,
using instinct and guile to mount
the climax of its preordained cycle.
A knock on the door at night
freezes worms chewing on battens
and sends chills through the crevices in dreams.
Buckled boots cross thresholds
with an authority forged in spit-shined metal,
and a belief that their tongues and hearts
reside in a place reserved for celestial bodies.
Motion comes to a halt for the impediments of time:
munitions, mortars, missiles, mines,
penicillin, potassium, procarbazine, plutonium,
a call to arms, a call to awaken, a call for help.
Bones turn to ash, ash to earth,
as spirits are set free to wander in a place
somewhere between a reveille and a refrain.
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