Sir Harry Burns: 'We need compassion, not judgements about poor people' Photo: sundaypost.com
“As a young surgeon in Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Sir Harry Burns was so troubled by the challenges facing poorer people in the city that he embarked on a new career path. "I became very interested in the way society organised itself for the greater good," he recalls. "I eventually thought the time had come to stop cutting bits out (of people) and start thinking more creatively about doing something to stop the bits that needed to be cut out."“After 15 years at the hospital, five of them as a consultant, he took a master's degree in public health to pursue a theme that has since dominated his professional life: trying to make people healthier, in both body and in mind, by reinforcing the social and communitarian bonds of society.”
“Doctors, he once recalled, are obsessed with the causes of disease rather than the causes of what he calls "wellness". In a lecture, he added: "As a doctor at the Royal, I never once wrote a death certificate saying the cause of death was living in a horrible house or unemployment. People die of molecular deaths, such as proteins coagulating in arteries and causing heart attacks and strokes. Yet we know that poor [social] conditions lead to poor health and premature deaths."
I very much encourage you to read this article on the life, vision and the work of Sir Harry. Here we can see the wisdom of comapassion and the falacy of market/profit-driven medical solutions.
Read the entire article:
Further readings:
The Wisdom of Compassion: The path to Peace, Contentment and Well-being
For the Common Good: Unleashing the Power of Passion & Purpose