Health

by Peter Naylor

In 2023 the health system may as well have been called the Sickness system. The primary focus was on fixing things that were wrong. While this is perfect for injuries like broken bones, sprains. cuts and other injuries, not so much for preventable diseases.

Now in 2050, our primary focus is on prevention of illness. From an early age, we teach our children the benefits of good nutrition, exercise, and healthy sleep. We have severely reduced the levels of highly processed foods and dramatically reduced the level of processed sugar used and consumed.

GPs are now visited to check that we are maintaining the best health. Other healthcare providers also assist. What was considered alternative medicine in 2023 is now mainstream, and we each have several health professionals to assist us in maintaining good health, depending on the individual needs of each of us. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now consulted in all diagnoses of illness, and quite often surgery is performed by robots. With widespread DNA analysis and other tools for diagnosis, major illnesses are largely prevented.

Naturally, in 2050, we still succumb to some illness, that requires medical intervention, however in NZ we readily have access to treatments such as CAR-T and other medical procedures that are specifically designed for each of us. With earlier detection and treatment our life expectancy and quality of life have dramatically increased. This was achieved by investment into organisations like the Magellan Institute, but more importantly, due to the changes made in education we now produce some of the world’s leading researchers.

We have raised a generation of people who understand that they are their own best doctors. They know when something is wrong, have ready access to information and tools to self-diagnose, and in a lot of cases treat themselves, removing a large burden off the wellness system, and freeing it up for more complex health requirements. Nobody must wait to see a health professional as they are ably assisted by AI to complete all the mundane tasks. We explore the benefits of this later.

It is now widely recognised that pharmaceutical-driven medicine doesn’t hold all the answers. In her book Radical Remission, Dr Kelly Turner found there were 10 key factors identified by the thousands of respondents who had beaten the odds when diagnosed with terminal illness.

In modern medicine, all these are used to help prevent and treat illness.

One of the big challenges faced in 2023 was that a lot of the focus on people’s health was focused on the cure rather than prevention. This was led by Big Pharma whose goal, is to provide a return to the shareholder and one of the best ways they can do this is by producing cures or treatments for various ailments. Billions of dollars were spent on research for cures yet very little was spent on looking at root causes or preventative measures.

We now understand the causes of a lot more illnesses and actively promote a healthy lifestyle from a young age, however in 2050 this is still a work in progress as we still have people that have lived a lifetime with bad habits. Big Pharma still has a role to play. Primary healthcare providers now have a much broader understanding of alternatives and preventative measures. This is largely due to the education they received all through their schooling and a change in attitude to being lifelong learners.

We have also invested in researching and developing non-pharma treatments such as ultrasonic sound for the destruction of tumours, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T), and other modern treatments. Research has also been conducted on the impact of Food and Supplements and the other key factors identified above.

A major success factor has been understanding the cumulative impact of treatments. For example, taking medication, releasing negative emotions, and changing diet all at the same time is much better than just doing one of these things.

In 2050 we have moved away from the highly processed foods of the early 21st century. There is a greater emphasis on eating whole foods. Food production has moved closer to the cities with vertical farms with food grown hydroponically in sterile environments. While this is great for pest and disease control it denies our bodies the chance to be exposed to helpful bacteria and therefore a whole new industry has emerged in understanding and optimising the human biome.

Over 50% of all meat products are now cultivated in the cities. This has multiple benefits in that meat production doesn’t use as much land and water, transportation costs are significantly lower and meat cultivation doesn’t require the use of intensive antibiotics, let alone animals are no longer raised in poor environments.

Other meat production is predominantly pasture raised on restorative farms that has huge benefits in terms of carbon capture, methane management, soil health, micro nutrients, bio enzymes as well as Iron and B group vitamins. Gone are the days of feedlots and factory farms. Animal and soil welfare are high priorities.

There is a much greater understanding of how the gut and brain interact and the importance of the gut biome on not only the physical but also the mental health of the individual. New Zealand was one of the first countries to undertake research and develop methodologies to provide individual personalised treatment of the gut biome. This treatment had a positive impact on the cost and availability of healthcare as less time and money was wasted on testing for and treating illness.

A dramatic reduction in refined sugar intake due to education and legislation to reduce the use of sugar in food production, resulted in much less obesity, diabetes, and other illness. This also had a major positive impact on mental health, people’s ability to learn, and productivity.

Learning from Japan and other countries that have a healthy aged population, we have adopted a diet high in vegetables, low in processed food, and eating smaller portions. Our obesity rate while not as good as Japan’s yet is heading in the right direction.

In 2023 it was hard to get to see your General Practitioner as there were a lot retiring from medical practice. GPs were bound up in red tape and compliance, they were reluctant to refer you through for specialist testing as you could have months or years to wait. There was also a general attitude that if you were outside the normal distribution curve for an illness, they didn’t want to test for that illness. That is, if there was a 1 in 100 chance you could have cancer at your age, then they didn’t check. There didn’t seem to be an understanding that you could be the 1.

In the mid-2020’s we recognised that a gram of prevention is better than a kilogram of cure. When business cased it was found it was better to have tested all 100 people and found the one early rather than the cost of treating the one that was missed and treating them late. Having so many people diagnosed late, put an extra burden on the system that meant an ever-increasing demand for late and expensive treatments. To cater to the higher demand for testing we have been creative in how we test. Using automation, robotics, and AI, we can test with much lower costs and higher volumes.

Even medical imaging has been automated to a large degree, meaning that multimillion-dollar machines are being utilised most productively. In 2023 Google announced that they could test for heart disease and diabetes by scanning the eye. We embraced this type of technology and went on to develop more simple, effective, low-cost, non-invasive testing that we now sell to the world.

Now in 2050 with early detection of risk, individuals are given lifestyle choices and if necessary, treatment. This has minimised the investment required to keep people healthy. Another large value of early treatment is that individuals continue contributing to society instead of being a burden.

For example, if a 40-year-old is diagnosed and treated early, they may offer another 25 years of productivity and taxation, say 500,000 tax, but if late diagnosed at 45, not only do we lose all that tax, but the cost of terminal treatment could well be 100’s of 1000’s of dollars. It just makes sense to test even if the chances are small. Of course, in 2050 diagnosis is lower cost and more reliable, however, the only way we got here was by making the changes in the mid-2020s.

Of course, the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the 2020s had a major impact on diagnosis and treatment. AI could read and compare thousands of images faster than any human. This resulted in quicker results for people leading to better outcomes. Far from replacing radiologists though, it just meant that common and easy diagnosis was done using AI and the radiologist was free to look in more detail at more complex cases. Fewer cases were missed, once again relieving pressure on the health system.

With such a good health system we attract top professionals from all over the world. We sell the tools and methods for testing to other countries, and this has become another source of wealth for NZ.

Health Tourism has taken off. We have facilities in some of our most scenic towns where people travel worldwide to get treated and rehabilitated.

After Covid 19 we recognised that we needed to be a lot smarter about managing pandemics. As AI, robotics, and automation started impacting employment levels in society, we saw an opportunity for training people to be first responders in emergency situations. More on this later in the Future of Work. Even in 2020 when Covid hit NZ, there was technology available we didn’t use, at least not extensively.

Now in 2050, all our ingress points to NZ are monitored. In normal times travelers are scanned as they come through the port of entry, for any sign of a temperature or illness. If detected, they are isolated and tested. As part of entering NZ, visitors need to register their phone numbers, so if a fellow traveler is identified as having something of risk they can be alerted.

We have built facilities for isolation when a pandemic breaks out. We also can deploy facilities anywhere in the country rapidly. This is where having trained first responders available is so important. While they don’t necessarily work full-time, they are there to be called on as needed. This provides them with a purpose rather than just getting something like the Universal Basic Income and sitting around with nothing to do. Our rapid deployment prefab isolation facilities have been exported globally.

In the 2020’s Mental Health issues were a major concern. Our suicide rate was one of the highest in the world. People who killed themselves while drunk or on drugs weren’t even counted in the statistics. By 2050 we had turned this around and now have one of the lowest suicide rates in the world. This has been achieved by developing better treatment options for people as well recognising the impact that poor diet, lack of exercise, bullying, workplace, and domestic stress, has on people. Now with better education and changes in the way we work and play, we are much healthier mentally and physically. We talk about the move to towns, villages, and 15 minutes cities later, but this has also had a big impact. As individuals, we tend to focus a little less on ourselves and more on our place in society.

a Sarah and Emily

In the bustling city of Wellington, New Zealand, in the year 2023, a young mother named Sarah found herself juggling the challenges of a healthcare system that seemed to focus more on fixing problems than preventing them. She watched as her daughter, Emily, went through bouts of illness, and the constant trips to the doctor became a routine.

But little did Sarah know that change was on the horizon. As Emily grew, she started attending a progressive school that integrated health education into its curriculum. The teachers there emphasized the importance of nutrition, exercise, and healthy sleep from an early age. Emily learned about the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, and why avoiding processed sugar was crucial for her long-term health.

Fast forward to the year 2050, and Emily, now a young adult, had embraced a lifestyle focused on prevention. Regular check-ups with her General Practitioner, Dr. Patel, became part of her routine, not because she was sick, but to ensure she stayed healthy. Dr. Patel was more than just a doctor; she was a healthcare partner who helped Emily tailor her lifestyle to maintain optimal health.

Emily's life was also enriched by other healthcare professionals who were once considered alternative medicine practitioners in 2023. From nutritionists to herbalists, they all played a vital role in helping her stay on the path to wellness. Artificial Intelligence was seamlessly integrated into every aspect of healthcare, providing accurate diagnoses and even assisting with surgeries performed by robotic surgeons.

Emily knew that, despite their best efforts, no one was immune to illness. In 2050, even with all the focus on prevention, there were still occasional health challenges. However, New Zealand had made remarkable progress in personalized medicine. Treatments like CAR-T therapy and other cutting-edge procedures were designed specifically for each individual.

The transformation didn't happen overnight. It was the result of substantial investments in organizations like the Magellan Institute and a significant shift in the way education was approached. New Zealand had raised a generation of individuals who understood that they were their own best doctors. They knew how to self-diagnose and, in many cases, treat themselves, thanks to readily available information and tools.

As the years passed, the people of New Zealand embraced the idea that pharmaceutical-driven medicine wasn't the sole solution. Dr. Kelly Turner's research on Radical Remission had become a cornerstone of modern healthcare. The ten key factors she identified were integrated into medical practices to prevent and treat illnesses effectively.

Sarah now in her fifties was diagnosed with cancer but as New Zealand had invested in non-pharmaceutical treatments, such as ultrasonic sound for tumour destruction and CAR-T therapy, she didn’t need treatment such as Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy. With CAR-T a copy of her DNA was made to allow her body to recognise the cancer cells and her own T-Cells were able to attack and eliminate the cancer. Research into the impact of food and supplements, along with other key factors, has led to groundbreaking treatments. The cumulative impact of these treatments was well understood, making the healthcare system more efficient. Other factors such as managing negative emotions, embracing positive emotions, and focussing on strong reasons to live all became part of her treatment.

b Jian Doh

Jian Doh from China had developed Diabetes and was seeking a solution that didn’t require the daily management of insulin. She decided to come to New Zealand and visit the Diabetes rehabilitation centre at Lake Wanaka for a 3 month health adjustment. During the 3 months she was analysed as to what foods where the greatest risk to her diabetes and put on a strict diet to eliminate her diabetes. Her Gut biome was cleansed and reestablished. She was introduced to intermittent fasting and taught new eating habits. A personalised supplement regime was devised for her. At the end of the 3 months, she had released a lot of the excess weight she had arrived with, was able to walk 5km per day comfortably, and had her 6-month plan for when she returned home. By having the clinic at Lake Wanaka, she was able to take advantage of the local tourism in organised excursions from the clinic. While the benefits for Jian are important, New Zealand gained income from the fees she paid to the clinic, the tourist places she visited, and the ongoing supplements she purchased after she returned to China as well as ongoing remote support from the clinic. Local producers supplied the fresh fruit and vegetables to the clinic, and all the supplements were from New Zealand companies.

c COVID-47

The lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 had prompted New Zealand to be proactive in managing future pandemics. So when the COVID-47 pandemic arrived, the country had established a robust system for early detection and response. Travelers were screened at entry points, and isolation facilities were rapidly deployed anywhere in the country. Our research facilities were so advanced that we were able to build new vaccines really quickly with rapid production and we had developed a methodology for delivery orally in a drink. Our information systems were all up to date so that we could mass vaccinate the whole country within 2 weeks.

As we had autonomous pick, pack and delivery of groceries, we could easily manage a lockdown until the vaccines had been delivered. Trained first responders played a vital role in this system, providing support when needed and ensuring they remained engaged in society. Their presence helped minimize the economic burden of late diagnoses and treatments. These trained first responders were people whose jobs had been replaced by automation, but more on that later.

As the people of New Zealand looked back on their journey from a sickness-focused healthcare system in 2023 to a prevention-oriented wellness one in 2050, they understood the power of change and innovation. Artificial Intelligence, automation, and a commitment to lifelong learning has transformed our healthcare system and our lives.

With a healthier population, a stronger economy, and a reputation for cutting-edge healthcare, New Zealand has truly become a beacon of hope and inspiration for the world.