Individuals, Not Governments, Are Responsible For

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Individuals, not governments, are responsible for health BY CHARIAM CHEUNG WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO) conducted a poll last year and it revealed that despite the controversial debate on the health issue, there is a consensus that the government should be held responsible for all citizens’ health. Health could be a broad issue. Particularly applied to humans, health is defined as the general condition of our minds, bodies and spirits. For the sake of simplification let’s take health as ‘being free from illness’. I do not oppose to the saying that the government has the ability to promote health care. It sounds, however, nonsense to me if the government is to be held ultimately accountable for people’s health. Instead, individuals are the ones who benefit and suffer from their own health conditions. Why aren’t they responsible for that? Individuals should have the right to choose their own ways of living, including how to consume and what to pursue. Nearly everyone nowadays knows how high the energy level of a valued meal of McDonald’s could be. It is our voluntary choice to stand in front of the counter and say "Big Mac please" or "vegetable salad please". Saying either way implies our value orientation. The government has told the cigarette manufacturers to print disgusting pictures on the packages of cigarette products; schools and doctors keep reminding us that tobacco consists of nicotine and other harmful additives. But still, when entering a Seven-Eleven, adults can choose to ask for Marlboro or to pick up the colorfully packed chewing gums. These are all our own choices. It is beyond doubts that individuals should bear the consequences of their decisions, however good or bad they have to be. When every one of us values individuality, we are not in a position to blame the government for not intervening the undesired sides of excessive

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