Health Policy Essay Paper

Post a description of the health policy you selected and a brief background for the problem or issue being addressed. Explain whether you believe there is an evidence base to support the proposed policy and explain why. Be specific and provide examples.

Health Policy

The health policy that has been selected is the tobacco control policy that requires manufacturers to include a prominent health warning on labeling and advertisements. Smoking tobacco products has been reported to lead to disability, disease and harms to nearly every organ in the body (Hwang & Cho, 2020; Noar et al., 2016). Approximately 16 million Americans are living with medical conditions whose root causes can be traced back to the use of tobacco products. Health Policy Essay Paper  Epidemiological data reveals that for every 30 people who live with serious smoking related ailments, 1 person will die because of smoking. Some of the specific health concerns from smoking tobacco products include chronic bronchitis, emphysema, diabetes, lung diseases, heart disease and cancer.

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In addition, smoking increases the risk for immune system problems, certain eye diseases and tuberculosis (Bonnie, Stratton & Kwan, 2015). Other than first hand smoke, second hand smoking also presents a concern. Epidemiological data indicates that approximately 400 infants and 41,000 non-smoking adults die annually from exposure to tobacco smoke. The second hand exposure causes adults to develop coronary heart disease, lung cancer and stroke. The infants exposed to second hand smoke report slow lung growth, respiratory symptoms, more severe asthma, middle ear disease, acute respiratory infections, and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Besides that, inhaling tobacco smoke increases the risk of pregnancy complications. Overall, tobacco products present a serious health concern (Bonnie, Stratton & Kwan, 2015). The policy is targeted at promoting greater public awareness and understanding of the health concerns associated with smoking tobacco products. These warnings create greater caution among the public so that non-smokers are more careful in avoiding second hand smoke while smokers either quite or reduce the amount of tobacco products they use.

References

Bonnie, R., Stratton, K. & Kwan, L. (Eds.) (2015). Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products. National Academies Press.

Hwang, J. Cho, S. (2020). The association between new graphic health warning labels on tobacco products and attitudes toward smoking among south Korean adolescents: a national cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 20, Article 748. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08638-0

Noar, S., Francis, D., Bridges, C., Sontag, J., Ribisl, K. & Brewer, N. (2016). The impact of strengthening cigarette pack warnings: Systematic review of longitudinal observational studies. Social Science & Medicine, 164, 118-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.06.011 .   Health Policy Essay Paper