In a world where medical technology has never been so advanced, a paradox persists: 1 in 3 people still have no access to quality care. This figure, from the WHO and the World Bank, is not just a statistic. It tells of a brutal, silent reality experienced every day by millions of men, women and children around the world.
And this inequality is not confined to poor countries or remote regions. It concerns us all, because health today is a collective, interconnected and fragile asset.
Inaccessible care, even when it exists
Access to healthcare isn’t just about having a hospital nearby. It means being able to seek medical care without geographical, economic, cultural or administrative barriers.
In some countries, hospitals are several days’ walk away. Elsewhere, treatments are either too expensive or unavailable. Sometimes it’s language, social status, gender or mistrust that prevents people from pushing open the door of a health center.
And even in so-called “universal” healthcare systems, as in Europe, inequalities persist: medical deserts, excessively long waiting times, lack of knowledge of rights, precariousness, lack of translation or mediation.
Science facing a human challenge
Biomedical research has long focused on treatments. It has led to major advances. But today, a new field is emerging: understanding why so many people remain on the margins of the healthcare system, and how to remedy the situation.
This means crossing disciplines: medicine, sociology, anthropology, economics and engineering. There’s a lot more to care than prescribing medication. We also have to listen, translate, adapt and support.
In Montpellier, this global approach is already underway. Teams are working, for example, on :
- develop portable, low-cost diagnostic tools for use outside hospitals,
- strengthening community health networks in developing countries,
- study cultural or economic barriers to access to healthcare,
- design teleconsultation systems adapted to rural areas or fragile populations.
When innovation rhymes with inclusion
Medical innovation should not widen the gap, but narrow it. This means designing technologies for all walks of life, not just connected urban environments.
Artificial intelligence, for example, can help detect illnesses in areas where there are no doctors. Mobile applications enable remote medical monitoring, even in fragile environments. Multilingual platforms, “ethical” algorithms, open-access diagnostic tools: these are just some of the initiatives emerging around the world – often in collaboration with researchers from Montpellier.
But for an innovation to be useful, it has to be accessible, understandable and locally relevant. And above all, co-constructed with the people concerned.
Rethinking health as a right, not a privilege
Care is more than just healing. It means recognizing the dignity of each individual. It means refusing to let distance, poverty, language or gender decide who lives or dies. It means making health a shared and protected common good.
This requires a change of outlook. To listen to the voices that are seldom heard. To consider health not as a product, but as a condition of justice.
And it starts right here, right now, in the laboratories, in the consultations, in the classrooms, in the field. In Montpellier and elsewhere.