Even in this golden age of medical and surgical wizardry and developing gene science, all wrapped and ribboned in IT, we owe our health to things that won’t appear in budgets or election platforms in the health category.

Although our relatively clean air, potable water, dependable quality food supply, education and low levels of poverty matter intensely in keeping us healthy, you will not find a line for them in the spreadsheets of those seeking our vote — at least not in the section labelled ‘health’.