Random thoughts: Health issues

[Bast]

This is nothing new. I just thought I'd say it anyway.

I'm going to be brief but most people seem to think that solving health issues in society has to do with government funding. Pump more money into the system and everything will be fine.

I don't know but money doesn't fix your health per se. If your health is in a bad situation, it's because of the way you eat, you live etc..

Now OF COURSE I understand there are exceptions. I do.

But there are SO MANY health problems today that could be solved by people making the effort to make a change in their diet and lifestyle. This also includes of course alcohol and drug abuse.

Shouldn't we be fixing the root of the problems rather than funding money to fix lung cancer, heart disease or whatever that results from a person's self-mutilation over the years?

Thoughts?

 

[emzie]

Shouldn't we be fixing the root of the problems rather than funding money to fix lung cancer, heart disease or whatever that results from a person's self-mutilation over the years?

The government is trying to do that. Schools are banning soft drinks and fast food. A pack of cigarettes is 10 bucks here. Alcohol is heavily taxed. Cities are starting to ban trans fats. I know Denmark has banned trans fat.

I'm not sure if it ever passed, but there was a proposal in the UK to force people to sign a pledge to stop smoking when they went to the hospital....

What it comes down to though if someone is unhealthy, and doesn't want to change, you can't do much about it. To off set this, you pay a high tax on cigarettes and alcohol. Ideally, the government will force you to stop smoking because of the high prices. If you need treatment for lung cancer, the money will be there.

 

[Bast]

What it comes down to though if someone is unhealthy, and doesn't want to change, you can't do much about it.

Then why should we waste tax dollars on them when they get a heart attack?

 

[emzie]

Then why should we waste tax dollars on them when they get a heart attack?

Because human health is considered paramount and not a commodity. Someone who has a heart attack, and is saved, has a chance to reform his or her ways.

 

[De Lorimier]

Because human health is considered paramount and not a commodity. Someone who has a heart attack, and is saved, has a chance to reform his or her ways.

Add that to the fact that said person paid taxes all his/her life on salary and products + the health insurance cost.

 

[El_Machinae]

In a way, you've got a very good point. If we paid people to walk for an hour every day - at whatever reasonable market rate that would require - we'd probably save a ton on medical services.

That said, there are a lot of diseases that won't be defeated without research.

edit: lots of xposts. Due to innovations, the cost of treating a heart attack has gone way down. Especially when you look at the success of the recoveries.

 

[emzie]

Add that to the fact that said person paid taxes all his/her life on salary and products + the health insurance cost.

I wonder, how much does a smoker pay the government in the course of his or her life? I'd feel rather ripped off if I never got sick after that.

 

[emzie]

In a way, you've got a very good point. If we paid people to walk for an hour every day - at whatever reasonable market rate that would require - we'd probably save a ton on medical services.

I understand her point and don't think it's a bad one. I think everyone has seen increadbly unhealthy people who don't care about their health. If they don't, why should anyone care about their health?

 

[El_Machinae]

I understand her point and don't think it's a bad one. I think everyone has seen increadbly unhealthy people who don't care about their health. If they don't, why should anyone care about their health?

I fell for something similar when I was younger. I moved to a small town, and the obesity was rampant. I started comparing my belly to theirs, and only really felt motivated to be better than them. It wasn't until I moved away that I realised that I had deviated from an ideal weight level.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

This is nothing new. I just thought I'd say it anyway.

I'm going to be brief but most people seem to think that solving health issues in society has to do with government funding. Pump more money into the system and everything will be fine.

I don't know but money doesn't fix your health per se. If your health is in a bad situation, it's because of the way you eat, you live etc..

The best way to avoid health problems is never to have them in the first place, and that does indeed mean eating a healthy diet, avoiding recreational drugs (including tobacco), and getting age-appropriate screening tests and innoculations as recommended by national guidelines. All this does require money but it has to be money spent right.

I don't know how it is in Australia, but in the US, the big problem with health care is that a large proportion of the population lacks medical insurance. Public assistance is few, far between, and haphazard, causing many to either get no medical care or forced to abuse the system to get any. What we should be do is nationalizing health insurance.