Is health care a right or a privilege? Our world is plagued with diseases and illnesses. This is just a simple fact that everyone must live with. There are ways to combat these diseases and illnesses, but there is always a price one must pay in order to receive these treatments. Throughout the years, people have been able to eradicate smallpox and keep many other diseases in control from spreading.

A current disease that is rapidly affecting a great portion of our world’s population is cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more people die from cancer than from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. The World Health Organization says that without immediate action, the global number of deaths from cancer will increase by nearly 80 percent by 2030, with most deaths happening in low and middle income countries. Some of these deaths can be prevented, but the services and technologies needed to help prevent diseases like cancer are not widely available in low and middle income areas.

Many countries are giving their residents universal health care in order to protect and assist their citizens, rich or poor, and battle many deadly diseases. Our country is one of the few developed countries that do not provide universal health care to its citizens, and many families in America are suffering financially due to the cost of treating these deadly diseases.

There comes a point when a country must decide whether or not those afflicted with a deadly disease should receive free health care. Middle and low income families do not have sufficient funds to receive treatment from these diseases. It is not feasible, especially for a middle income family of three or more children, to pay for extremely costly procedures and still afford sending their children to college. Even with health insurance, families still have to come up with unrealistic amounts of money just to keep their loved ones alive and healthy.

The cost to treat diseases like cancer is too high for one person to handle. If someone is diagnosed with an illness as deadly as cancer, they must pay for medical operations, medical procedures such as MRI’s and vital medication like pain pills. The burden for a person battling a fatal disease is already heavy without the stress of rising medical costs. It is their right to receive the proper treatment without the fear of a late medical bill turning into a forced bankruptcy. The worthiness of one’s life should not be dictated by the amount of money in their wallet.

In the developed world we are now privileged to live in, free access to health care must be viewed as a human right. It is the responsibility of the healthy to help relieve the sick from their illness by contributing, through taxes, to their medical costs.

It is important to understand the difference between a handout and a basic human right. Taxpayers contribute to the education of our young to produce a productive workforce for the future. It is equally important for society to have a healthy and productive population. This can be ensured by providing universal health care to all.