Freedom, Lifestyle Hinder Public Health Policies

LEICESTER, United KingdomTodays top health issues are closely tied in with individual lifestyle choice and freedoms, making it difficult for government intervention to protect the publics health, said Professor Elizabeth Murphy, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the University of Leicesters College of Social Science during a speech Oct. 6.

She compared the relative powerlessness of governments today to affect lifestyle choices contributing to conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, with major strides forward in the 19th and 20th centuries in public health policies that helped to eradicate infectious diseases through large-scale programs to improve sanitation, hygiene and air and water quality.

Murphy said that many public health problems cannot be solved by legislation and are the consequence of perfectly legal personal decisions made in private spaces.