On World Health Day let’s reflect on why we’re striving for better health for all

As anyone who has spent more than a few minutes with me will know, the strength and resilience of people living with rare diseases across the world, and the community of loved ones, carers and healthcare professionals who support them is something I talk about a lot. That is why today, on #WorldHealthDay, I want to take the time to talk about the wider healthcare community.

I want to acknowledge the people worldwide in health centres, hospitals, homes, laboratories and offices – at bedsides and benches and everywhere in between – who work, day in and day out, to make a difference to people’s health. A doctor in a busy city hospital, a nurse in a remote rural clinic, a mother caring for her sick child or a scientist striving to understand the genetic cause of a disease each have very different roles and responsibilities, but I believe they all share one aim: the best possible health and wellbeing for the patients they serve. 

That aim isn’t always an easy one to have. Many years ago when I was a young doctor, I vividly remember sitting on the steps of a Paris Metro station feeling sadness and frustration, having just completed a house visit. I was called to check on a young girl with cystic fibrosis and my frustration was due to the realization that there was little we could do for her. She was struggling with an endless cycle of infections and hospital admissions, and I had no choice but to refer her back to hospital, even though she had been discharged earlier that day. That girl, that moment, that feeling of desperately wanting to make things better, has triggered a sense of urgency that has never left me since.

I think everyone in the healthcare community has a reason for why they have chosen this life commitment to make better health possible, and why they persist despite the challenges. Everyone’s justification is different, but equally as powerful because it is what motivates us to keep striving to achieve the best for our patients.

When we come together as a community and work in partnership to solve health-related problems, we combine our talents and skills. More importantly, we combine our motivations and our “raisons d’être” – and that is the key to our collective strength. On World Health Day, let’s all remind ourselves of our reason why. Then let’s work together for better health for all.