There is an increase in the responsibilities due to public health, following changing health patterns. Public health’s traditional roles of infectious disease reduction and control are gradually being challenged by chronic diseases, which have passed infectious diseases to be the leading cause of death through all stages of the human life. In that sense, public health focus is shifting more towards promoting healthy living such as lifestyle changes to counter this threat. According to Grossman (2015) , such practices as proper diet and exercising coupled with less tobacco exposureare fundamental in preventing cardiovascular conditions, obesity, and type-2 diabetes. In addition, the scope of public health’s responsibilities are increasing due to the potential threat posed by both natural and human made calamities such as global changes in climate and use of nuclear weapons respectively. However, the position of public health in healthcare is still underdeveloped.
Role of Public Policies in Public Health
According to ( Hurt, Kulisek, Buchanan, &McClave, 2010), obesity has been cited as one of the major predisposing factors to cardiovascular dieses and cancer. Lack of physical exercise coupled with poor nutrition and worsened by secondary exposure to tobacco has been attributed to the prevalence of obesity. Public policies have been put into place to counter some of these conditions. Acts such as consuming alcohol while pregnant, exposing children to secondary smoking in homes and over nutrition all reflect a society living off the edge of human morality, which is not good. The foregoing habits show harmful physical, cognitive, and psychosocial developmental impacts on children. Medicalization and criminalization of such activities is ethically long overdue ( Meurk, Lucke, & Hall 2014 ). While these policies reflect more of a society governed by absolute morality, studies should be conducted to ensure their implementation in the society do not cause or seem to cause alienation or segregation of select minorities.
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Possible Alternate Public Health Policies
There is nothing ethical in terminating or shortening the lifespan of a fellow human being. What is ethical is developing alternate policy such as the introduction of a school health program to offer health education, healthy lifestyle living, physical educationand communityand individual health promotion ( Grossman 2015). Research has shown that making items thathas been considered as risk factors to health less accessible or overly expensive directly reduces ill health effects due to such items ( Escobar 2013).
Ethical Consideration of Public Health Policy
It is the role of the government to enact and ensure compliance of legislation to safeguard public health. By ensuring compliance, such policies instill a growing psychological effect on the individual that compels them to take care of themselves, their fellow human beings and the environment to foster the wellbeing and quality health all ( Escobar, 2013). For instance, ensuring smoking ban in public places, eliminating artificial fats from human food chain, and increasing taxation of tobacco products are powerful policies that the government can apply to protect its people (Grossman, 2015).
Effectiveness of Self-Imposed Restrictions
The individual can embrace self-imposed restrictions/ policies like non-smoking policy, healthy snacking, avoiding artificial sugars, healthy sleeping habits, and proper exercising. To ensure the effectiveness of these restriction, onecan join respective voluntary health associations, enrolling in healthcare and health insurance plans, proper collective dieting and influencing healthy living among peers and family.
References
Escobar, M. A. C., Veerman, J. L., Tollman, S. M., Bertram, M. Y., &Hofman, K. J. (2013). Evidence that a tax on sugar sweetened beverages reduces the obesity rate: a meta- analysis. BMC public health , 13 (1), 1072.
Grossman, M. (2015). The relationship between health and schooling: What’s new? (No. w21609). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Hurt, R. T., Kulisek, C., Buchanan, L. A., &McClave, S. A. (2010). The obesity epidemic: challenges, health initiatives, and implications for gastroenterologists. Gastroenterology & hepatology , 6 (12), 780.
Meurk, C., Lucke, J., & Hall, W. (2014). A bio-social and ethical framework for understanding fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Neuroethics , 7 (3), 337-344.
