It is traditional for the New Year to be a time of new resolutions and new beginnings. Many of us resolve to do something different - lose weight (an annual one for me now!), learn another language, get to know our neighbours better, take up origami etc, etc. By the time you read this, we will be at the start of spring, and I wonder just how many of our resolutions made at the start of the year we are still sticking to?
A recent report suggested that a mere $27 billion (£19 billion) could save over eight million people a year from an untimely death. That is less than 0.1% of the GDP of every developed nation, and about 67% of what the US has spent on its war in Afghanistan. Coupled with debt relief, this aid could see every developing nation provide basic, adequate healthcare to its whole population. One commentator has worked out that this equated to spending $25 (less than £18) per citizen in the Western world per year - much less than most of us will have spent on Christmas presents last year.
Of course, it is not quite as simple as that - not all developing nations have the political will or stability to implement such a plan, others may struggle, even with debt relief, to put the necessary capital into developing their health systems. But even then, the impact that could be made for the sacrifice of a comparatively small part of our wealth would be huge. So, why does it not happen?
We only have to go back to the prophets Amos and Isaiah in the Old Testament to hear God rail again and again against our selfishness, and unwillingness to help the poor and release the shackles of debt and slavery. Jesus too, regularly confronted humanity's stubborn, lazy selfishness. Little has changed it would seem.
Yet, there is hope. One of the reasons most of us fail with our New Year's Resolutions is that we are not good at sudden change - it can overwhelm us. Small steps over a longer period of time, on the other hand, can eventually lead to radical change. The small steps of the different individuals and organisations featured in this, the first anniversary edition of HealthServe, can act as examples and spurs to action, showing that lives can be saved and what is more transformed, not by money or governments, but ordinary people responding to the gospel of Christ.
As we look to Easter, it is also a timely reminder that we serve a God who made the single resolve to live among us and die for us, and never once flinched from that commitment. What can we do but respond in a similar manner?
A recent report suggested that a mere $27 billion (£19 billion) could save over eight million people a year from an untimely death. That is less than 0.1% of the GDP of every developed nation, and about 67% of what the US has spent on its war in Afghanistan. Coupled with debt relief, this aid could see every developing nation provide basic, adequate healthcare to its whole population. One commentator has worked out that this equated to spending $25 (less than £18) per citizen in the Western world per year - much less than most of us will have spent on Christmas presents last year.
Of course, it is not quite as simple as that - not all developing nations have the political will or stability to implement such a plan, others may struggle, even with debt relief, to put the necessary capital into developing their health systems. But even then, the impact that could be made for the sacrifice of a comparatively small part of our wealth would be huge. So, why does it not happen?
We only have to go back to the prophets Amos and Isaiah in the Old Testament to hear God rail again and again against our selfishness, and unwillingness to help the poor and release the shackles of debt and slavery. Jesus too, regularly confronted humanity's stubborn, lazy selfishness. Little has changed it would seem.
Yet, there is hope. One of the reasons most of us fail with our New Year's Resolutions is that we are not good at sudden change - it can overwhelm us. Small steps over a longer period of time, on the other hand, can eventually lead to radical change. The small steps of the different individuals and organisations featured in this, the first anniversary edition of HealthServe, can act as examples and spurs to action, showing that lives can be saved and what is more transformed, not by money or governments, but ordinary people responding to the gospel of Christ.
As we look to Easter, it is also a timely reminder that we serve a God who made the single resolve to live among us and die for us, and never once flinched from that commitment. What can we do but respond in a similar manner?
