Healthcare in Space, Part III: Crafting a Sustainable Healthcare Economy on Mars

Introduction

Over the last two weeks, as we explored rebuilding healthcare on Mars, we looked at who would be the first settlers, what jobs they would do, and what kind of healthcare products they would need to survive the red planet.

We have the people, and presumably, we’ve transported those healthcare products and services to Mars. Now how do we prioritize services and allocate resources as our intrepid explorers settle in?

If this sounds like something from a high school textbook, it’s because it aligns with the definition of an economy:

So how do we jumpstart the healthcare economy on Mars?

Seeding from Earth: Public-Private Partnerships

Healthcare on Mars won’t appear out of thin air; it will require substantial upfront investment from Earth, including:

Government Involvement

National space agencies like NASA, ESA, and others would likely play a significant role in funding healthcare infrastructure on Mars, seeing it as a part of their larger mission budget. These agencies have extensive experience and resources dedicated to space exploration, which can be leveraged to establish medical facilities and services on Mars. Funding could come from governmental budgets allocated to space exploration and scientific research. Additionally, international collaboration among space agencies could pool resources and expertise, ensuring a comprehensive and robust healthcare system for Martian settlers.

Corporate Sponsorship 

Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other private entities involved in space exploration might sponsor healthcare initiatives as part of their investment in Mars colonization. These corporations have a vested interest in the success and sustainability of the Martian colony, as it aligns with their long-term business goals and vision for space exploration.

Sponsorship can also come from leading healthcare companies providing mission-critical products such, as medtech/diagnostic (J&J), surgical robots (Intuitive Surgical), and pharmaceuticals (Pfizer). Their support can include funding for medical research, development of healthcare technologies, and establishment of medical facilities. In return, these companies can gain branding opportunities, technological advancements, and valuable data that can be commercialized or applied to future missions.

While this heavily subsidized and top-down approach to healthcare planning is necessary initially, Mars is an environment unlike Earth. With the communication delay, remote control from Earth will be challenging. Therefore, Mars will need to develop its own healthcare economy shaped by its unique realities to keep everyone healthy without draining resources too quickly.

Prioritizing Healthcare Resources: Acute Medical Needs

In emergency situations, a triage system prioritizes care based on the severity of the condition and the likelihood of survival. This method, already used in disaster scenarios on Earth, would be critical on Mars where resources are limited.

Additionally, establishing a clear set of ethical guidelines to ensure fair and unbiased decision-making in healthcare provision will be essential. These guidelines would be developed by a committee of medical professionals, ethicists, and community representatives.

Handling acute medical needs on Mars will likely resemble familiar practices on Earth, despite the difficulties of operating an emergency room. Things get interesting when we consider how to prioritize chronic and non-emergency healthcare needs.

Beyond Acute Medical Services: Prioritizing Chronic and non-emergency care

The modern economy is market-driven and prioritizes healthcare effectively by allocating resources where they are most needed, driven by demand and supply forces. On Earth, this allows for innovations, competitive pricing, and improved quality of care as providers strive to meet the needs of patients efficiently. Market mechanisms ensure that healthcare services and products that are in high demand receive the necessary investment and attention.

In addition, currency is a standardized medium of exchange within the market-driven economy used to facilitate the trade of goods and services. It allows for the efficient allocation of resources, making it easier to prioritize and fund healthcare services on Earth.

However, on Mars, implementing a similar system would be impractical due to the isolated environment and limited initial resources, causing the demand of healthcare goods to be completely inelastic. As such, traditional currency-based transactions would be challenging to sustain.

Instead, we can consider other systems that may provide viable alternatives:

Bartering System:

Considering the majority (if not all) early settlers will be highly skilled laborers, a barter system allows settlers to trade goods and services directly without using money. This can include trading medical supplies, healthcare services, and other essentials.

Healthcare professionals could provide medical services in exchange for food, construction help, or other vital services. Essential supplies like medications, diagnostic tools, and protective gear can be bartered among settlers and between different sectors (e.g., agriculture, engineering). Such an arrangement could foster flexibility and community building, encouraging interdependence and cooperation among settlers, and ensuring that critical infrastructure-building work continues

Web 3 and Tokenization:

While tokenization is still finding its place in Earth’s modern economy, we could potentially leverage blockchain technology to create a token-based economy on Mars. Tokens can be used to pay for non-critical healthcare services, medical supplies, and other resources.

One potential implementation is to issue health tokens that can be earned through contributions to the community (e.g., working in healthcare, research, construction) and spent on healthcare services and supplies.

Additionally, Smart contracts can be used to automate transactions and agreements, ensuring transparency and security. This system isn’t just for workers to “work to earn” and spend on healthcare services; given the importance of early settlers maintaining their health amidst the effects of microgravity and constant radiation exposure, we can establish a system where settlers are rewarded for healthy behaviors

Conclusion

Creating a self-sufficient healthcare economy on Mars requires innovative solutions tailored to its unique challenges. By implementing a triage system, ethical guidelines, and adopting bartering or tokenization, we can ensure that healthcare resources are prioritized and allocated effectively to keep the Martian settlers healthy and thriving.

What are the practical implications of this thought exercise of building healthcare on Mars? Join us next week as we return to Earth, and apply these lessons to solving our healthcare deserts. Stay tuned!

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