Health care policy refers to the actions, plans and decisions which are executed to realize particular health care objectives in the society. An obvious health care policy should be able to achieve some things such as; definition of the vision for the future to aid in the establishment of targets and points of reference for short and medium terms. The policy should outline priorities as well as the expected roles of various groups. It should also draw to consensus and inform the citizens. Its purpose is to offer standardization in routine operation activities as well as to communicate to desired outcomes. An example of a good health care policy is the prohibition of smoking in public places (Mason, et.al, 2013). The succeeding discussion thus evaluates the impact on economical, political and legal or ethical issues on the development of the prohibition of tobacco smoking in public areas.
Economic issues. Tobacco smoking bans are important in that the second hand smoke can easily result in adverse health problems which call for high costs of settling hospital bills. On the other hand, the policy also endangers deterioration of the general profits realized from the business of tobacco (Fox, et.al, 2017). Additionally, the cost economic benefits of smoking add up to the tax revenues of the nation which dwindles upon the reason of public bans.
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Political impact of Public smoking prohibition. The political ideology behind smoking takes into consideration the ultimate responsibility for health values which either lies with the society or the individuals. The ban on public smoking policy impacts the political ideology by questioning whether the government is responsible to manipulate one’s behavior in efforts to control and promote the general public good (Fox, et.al, 2017). The political ideological arguments concerning this policy tend to push away the role of government in the health interventions of its citizens against their rights to make informed choices regarding smoking.
Ethical/Legal Impact of the Public Smoking ban policy. The policy of this prohibition has strengthened by the effect of smoking to non-smokers in public places. The non-smokers become secondhand smokers which is equally harmful. Also smoking in public causes pollution. Also there has been argued out that there are alternative ways for tobacco lovers to intake the nicotine other than smoking. This is the use of nicotine gum and nicotine patches.
References
Fox, W., Bayat, S., Ferreira, I., & Ferreira, N. (2017). A Guide to Managing Public Policy . Cape Town, South Africa: Juta and Company.
Mason, D. J., Leavitt, J. K., & Chaffee, M. W. (2013). Policy and Politics in Nursing and Healthcare - Revised Reprint . St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Smoking Should Be Prohibited in Public Places | TOPICS Online Magazine | Sandy and Thomas Peters. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.topics-mag.com/edition7/smoking-no.htm
