Health: When Did It Become About Pills Instead of Prevention?

Health: When Did It Become About Pills Instead of Prevention?

How did we get to a point where “health” seems to mean doctors, prescriptions, and the industries that profit from them? When did we stop talking about prevention?

Here’s an interesting observation from my years leading Kokoda treks: when I have a doctor on the trek, people tend to get sick. When there’s no doctor? Hardly anyone does. Now, I’m not saying doctors aren’t needed—of course they are—but it raises an important question: how much of our health is influenced by mindset, environment, and the expectations we set for ourselves?

The Power of Prevention

Over the years, I’ve seen countless people sign up for a Kokoda trek or another major challenge, and in preparation, they commit to getting fitter, eating better, and improving their overall health. As an exercise physiologist, I’ve documented the results firsthand:

✅ Lower blood pressure
✅ Reduced blood glucose levels (one of my best cases went from 16 down to 6!)
✅ Decreased cholesterol and body fat
✅ Less stress, better posture, fewer backaches
✅ Improved cardiovascular fitness and lower resting heart rates

And yet, despite clear evidence that exercise and proper nutrition prevent so many chronic diseases, we barely invest in prevention. Instead, our health system pours billions into managing illness rather than avoiding it in the first place.

What If We Prioritized Prevention?

Imagine a world where:
✔ Every neighborhood had an exercise physiologist—or at least subsidies to make their services accessible
✔ Farmers were subsidized so fresh, healthy food was affordable for all
✔ Preventative health was valued as much as treatment

Forty years ago, I was writing fitness and lifestyle programs, and I saw it firsthand—those who stuck with it developed habits that kept them healthy for life. Those who didn’t? Many are now stuck on the "health merry-go-round"—constantly managing one problem after another.

Common sense? Absolutely. But as my mother used to say:
💡 "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Maybe it’s time we started listening.