Health politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Health politics - Essay Example Food firms produce large quantities of food using cheap, unhealthy ingredients, thus escalating the rates of obesity (Chung & Muntaner 2007, 89). This is the phenomenon that accounts for the ascending numbers of obese people in England. In this respect, there is need to have policies that stem the impact of this governance and economic mechanism to have a healthier nation. The White Paper attempts to find the solutions to the deep seated problem. Definition of Policies in Health Context Policies refer to the aims and objectives that a party or a government intends to achieve and uphold in the interest to the nation and its citizens. In health industry, policies are made by the government to maintain a healthy society. From 1970s, implementation and drafting of health policies has been based on preventive measures rather than curative measures as was earlier done (Chung 2007, 21). Health sector and stakeholders in the health industry have realized through rigorous studies that curativ e measures are expensive and yield no marginal benefits. Policies regarding health of the society are drafted and formulated for implementation by the government with wisdom and prudence in provision of superior health management (Erickson & Wilson 1994, 32). A health policy is usually a course of action and a method of intervention selected from among other alternatives to guide the present actions and determine future course of actions in the future. Health policies are high level general plans that embrace the overall goals and acceptable processes within the health sector. Features of Obesity Policies As this work deals with health policies in relation to obesity, it shall discuss some of the pertinent features of a policy in connection with the subject matter. Foremost, a policy must have a decision and an action. The government acknowledges the effect and degree of obesity in the society and makes a decision to curtail its negative effects. According to researches, there is a correlation between obesity and economic status of the affected people. The government acknowledges the fact that obesity is a chronic condition caused by behavioral factors (Boswell 2005, 24). In coming up with the policies to combat obesity, the government makes a decision to deploy means of nullifying all the negative externalities that accrue to social and health effects of obesity. The other feature of policy is action. The process of putting in place a policy to guide the public on issues relating to obesity is not complete with mere decision of the government to curtail obesity. The government must go a step further to take practical actions to curb obesity. The action should be geared towards reducing the costs of obesity treatment. The earlier measures and policies governments placed of curing maladies have been faced out due to their high costs (Borrell 2009, 43). Curative measures have led to elimination of infectious diseases, but not social and behavioral complications such as obesity. An action plan that attempts to provide formidable solution to prevalence of behavioral complications such as obesity involves formulation and implementation of health policy that recognizes intricacies of behavioral complications. Such a policy is geared towards making everyone custodian of his own health. It is a policy that makes everyone responsible for his health, and devolves the responsibilities of