Policy documents in international organizations or at country level ask us to become ‘informed patients’, ‘engaged and active citizens’ and ‘empowered communities’. But most of us lack access to the necessary information and do not have the necessary skills to drive decisions for our health. These skills are the essence of health literacy, defined as ‘the ability to make sound health decisions in the context of everyday life (Gastein Health Declaration 2005).

Some countries of the world have a poorly articulated health service and lack of instruments to implement it, but it is from these countries that serious threats come to the health of the world as a whole. No country is spared from a public health emergency of international concern.

Asgardia, the only nation with citizens spread all over the world, could have a major paper in the coordination of such kind of threats. Without big country agendas running behind at the same time, the knowledge freely offered to the citizens of Asgardia will enable them to act in an informed manner and protect themselves from these threats and, at the same time help all the other countries in distress.

Most do have access to the necessary information. There's more people "online" that not, globally I'd wager.

Certainly, anyone that can get to here can get to serious knowlege on almost any subject. Various "pre-internet" civilisations that still exist tend to be rather healthy on the whole. I'm confident "access to knowledge" isn't the problem.

Personally, I don't think self-maintainence requires any particular skill - and if it did it's lack would of wiped out the species long ago. It just means not making obviously stupid descisions commonly. Especially regarding what crap most people put in their bodies without thinking.

You say that information is available and that teaching people is not urgent because they can search for themselves. Do you happen to know that only 7% of young people who finish high school in Brazil leave school with basic math skills, and even worse, only 8% can speak their own language correctly? How do you think they will be able to look for this information that is pressing and that can save many lives if they do not even have the basis to distinguish between what is scientific and correct information and a huge amount of incorrect and often malicious information? You, my friend, are part of the elite that knows how to communicate in their own language and in some other languages, that knows how to look for the information that needs in the mire that is the Internet. And the other 93% or more of the other human beings who live in underdeveloped countries without access to information, education and decent means of subsistence? Should not they have help, a simple means of reliable access to the information that can save them? If we, the favored, can create a centralized internet site that can help some more savvy to spread the information, is not this good? You are certainly aware of the information regarding yellow fever, dengue, malaria, AIDS, all endemic in underdeveloped countries. All of them, because of the speed with which the population moves from one country to another can be brought into the bosom of the most developed countries and lead to epidemics. I am not talking about apocalyptic scenarios but avoidable loss of life that should concern us.

As a former EMT I can also verify that most folks don't know as much as they should about how their own bodies work.

Perhaps if a basic curriculum was in the works of what should be taught to young people that would be a good starting point upon which to build.

There's nothing "elite" about communicating in your native language, most people kind of grow up doing this. Or that of others - it just means you've taken the time to learn it

The numbers you cite are certainly problematic, but they are not within themselves an unsurmountable hinderence. The only unsurmountable hindrence is the lack of intention to self-educate. The internet is certainly a mire of information, but to be honest the tools available to navigate and search this are far in excess of capabilities as to when I started my educational drive using, which was actually before HTTP was a thing. When "the web" came about there was some time before things like google appeared. Now you can get at far more information much much easier. Granted much of this requires validation but if you pick your sources wisely you can save yourself a lot of needless checking - on the subject of health you should only really be after peer-reviewed papers anyway. "Skills" developed in searching for information are something that certainly improve over time and practice is the only way to truely achieve - like many other things, failure can teach as much if not more than success.

My comments with regards to the educational factor not being the problematic one is of recognition that in places of "high literacy" and also of "reasonable knowledge of healthy living" there is actually more problems than places that do not even have a written language, let alone an "educational system". In "western society" the dangers of smoking and drinking are well known, well published, well advertised - and yet still it is concsiously selected as a path. They unferstand what this means - they just do it anyway. The damages, dangers, and side effects of obesity being known equally doens't stop an alarming number of people forming a primary diet of KFC, McDonalds, pizza and Mars bars. It's not so much of an educational problem, par-se, as a behavioural one.

Please consider visiting this link from Harvard University for a better understanding of the subject we are discussing. https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/135/2012/09/overview_slides.pdf

I disagree with health as 'literacy." I believe it is a skill. People need to be taught the skill of being healthy. Most people in western countries have the knowledge to be healthy but don't take the time to learn the skills. It's somethign that is learned over years and a habit that needs to be formed. (In most circumstances)

Look up "An Apple a Day" by Taylor Mali on Youtube. A great run down of why health should be taught as a skill.

"What does it matter if we try to increase our scores in math and reading if scores are dying before their time." Taylor Mali