This assignment will be explaining how public health meets its aims in a specific
demographic area.
The World Health Organisations definition of health is that ‘Health is a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’
(World Health Organisation, 2020). This definition is used a lot throughout health and social
care topics and is used for referencing in a lot of useful sites as it is the most accurate.
However, there are a lot of other websites with definition of health but mostly referencing
World Health Organisations definition. The main purpose of public health is to protect
individuals receiving care, in order to for that to happen a policy needs to be put in put in
place.
P1
Pollution
Another strategy is aimed pollution and recycling; strategy for hazardous waste
management in England 2011. This focuses on reducing the amount of plastic that is being
thrown away and to reduce the manufacturing of plastic each year. The most important part
is also the amount of plastic being thrown into the ocean endangering wildlife and the
environment. This news article (Sky Ocean Rescue, 2018) demonstrates and illustrates how
plastic is ending up in people’s food also, this means that the next generation will end up
digesting plastic particles. Plastic can cause health issues such as cancer and lung infections
and is unsuitable for consumption. One public health policy that came into play from this
was the 5 pence plastic bag single use charging in active set up to reduce plastic thrown
away. The main aim for this policy is to reduce the demand for plastic bags.
Screening programmes
One strategy is the health screening strategy. A screening programme is a test used to find
a percent of disease in people who might not have the symptoms. There are many types of
tests available for people such as; breast screening which is available for women from the
ages 50 to 70 years old. There is also bowel cancer screening which is available to both
genders from ages 55 years old and over (NHS, 2018). It prevents disease by detecting its
, Unit 8
Assignment 1- public health
Joey Baalham
symptoms early which makes it more treatable and lowers the overall risk of death from the
disease. The ‘making life better strategies framework 2013-2023’ is very important for this
because as by 2023 the government wants the whole of the population in UK to be healthier
and have a longer life expectancy. If there were no screening programmes, the UK would
not find many cases of breast cancer or bowel cancer which would then lead the patient to
worsen in health as it progresses through stages. 3 in 200 women who have been screened
are diagnosed with a type of cancer that could be life threatening if not treated early, which
they would have not been able to find if it was not for screening programmes. The outcome
of having the policy offering compulsory screening tests for everyone who it applies to helps
the government prevent early deaths and also help keep everyone healthy.
Obesity
It is important to give children a nutritional healthy life to prevent from diseases later on in
their life. For example, the food standard agency rates all food businesses on food hygiene,
how food is stored, how it is handled and prepared and food safety. Childhood obesity is
becoming a lot more common in society. Between 2005 to 2011 obesity in the UK increased
by 4%, obesity can cause a lot of health conditions such as; diabetes, cancer and risks of
cardiovascular disease. One strategy to stop/decrease number of obesity cases is having
healthy fruit and vegetables in every meal and children are encouraged to try new fruit and
vegetables. (food Hygiene Rating Scheme, 29 January 2018).
One policy that came in effect to prevent obesity is the school food policy. This policy is in
place so that children can get access to free clean water at all times and that sugary drinks
and unhealthy snacks are banned from school lunches. This policy helps the health and well-
being of children by ensuring that they have the nutritional food that is available for their
health. As well as prevent cardiovascular related deaths later on in their lives (departmental
advice for government boards, 2016). I believe this is very effective as poorer income
families as told by ‘the black report’ are likely to have an unhealthy hot meal.
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