Essay On What Do You Think Is The Most Controversial Aspect Of Public Health Policy

What do you think is the most controversial aspect of public health policy?
I think that the most controversial aspect of public health policy is the trade-off between individual freedom and collective citizens and the individual responsibility. The following information by Mary-Jane Schneider provides a great description, from my point of view, of why this is controversial, “Health and safety, together with economic well-being, are the major factors that contribute to the general welfare. While the government cannot guarantee health and safety for each individual, its role is to provide for maximum health and safety for the community as a whole. One of the central controversies in public health is the extent to which government can and should restrict individual freedom for the purpose of improving the community’s health”1. The WHO definition of public health describes it as all of the measures to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole. It focuses on entire populations and is concerned with the

For example, restricting the consumption of alcohol protects others from possible accidents due to drunk driving, it is also restricting people’s individual freedom to choose what, when and how much to drink. The use of seat belts prevents thousands of injuries and deaths in every single country in the world, a great public health policy, but at the same time having a law that demands people to wear seat belts imposes rules and restrictions to people as individuals, not as a community. Individual responsibility it is also very controversial, since how do we measure or determine how responsible is an individual and how should that individual face that