Unit 8
Promoting Public Health
P5.
Explain how two approaches to health promotion and protection have been applied in
a selected health promotion campaign.
I will be discussing the impact of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and the
reinforcements they have put in place in order to better the health of the nation in regards to
smoking and vaping.
Identifying and monitoring the needs of the population is a way of meeting the needs of the
population. ASH are constantly trying to raise awareness about the risks associated with
smoking or vaping and debunk myths about this issue. There has been an increase in
children smoking, so ASH are constantly trying to place campaigns such as encouraging
councils to advertise the risks of vaping to younger children in order for them to understand
the dangers.
Identifying and reducing inequalities, means that ASH will not only target younger children
but everyone. The campaigns that they produce are aimed for everyone to understand and
acknowledge but certain articles or videos may be targeted to certain generations as
information can be processed differently depending on the age you are. In regards to this,
ASH targets everyone in England and not just the population in London.
Protecting society from health threats can mean that ASH are constantly trying to raise
awareness about smoking and vaping. An example that ASH have achieved is to label
cigarette packs with pictures of what smoking can cause, this has seemed to have an effect
on the smoking population as they are more likely to realise what may happen to them.
Currently, ASH are trying to implement policies on vapes such as placing them out of sight
and changing the packaging.
Addressing national health problems is something that ASH are constantly working on,
whether it is creating videos for children in schools or advertising through posters or banners
in public places, ASH are trying to raise awareness about different policies that may be
implemented or different side effects of smoking from a young age. By doing this, people are
able to understand the risk and why smoking is constantly being pressured to be banned.
This can also allow parents to inform themselves on why their children may be influenced to
smoke or how they can help to stop them.
Developing screening programmes are available for smokers and is encouraged for people
who have stopped smoking after a long time. Screening programmes such as lung cancer
screening have been produced in order to see if smokers suffer from this disease. In addition
to this, it is encouraged for smokers to have an annual lung cancer screening in order to
check if there are any conditions they may suffer from.
One health promotion and protection that ASH has carried out has been adding tax to vapes,
this means that people will need to pay a certain amount of money on top of the original
price of the vape.
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Promoting Public Health
The main idea of this is for vapes and cigarettes to become more expensive which will
potentially make the customer not want to waste their money or buy it anymore. Linking to
this, ASH have also proposed that the Border Control should strengthen against vapes in
order for illegal disposable vapes to decrease. (ASH, 2023)
ASH have addressed national health problems of people increasing in smoking more often
and have put steps in actions in order to tackle this increase. An example of which I will be
talking about is the rise of vaping and how ASH are raising awareness of the risks and
implementing new policies. For two years now, ASH has been trying to implement policies
on vaping and increase the knowledge of the risks to the government about them. (ASH,
2023)
Another health promotion and protection that ASH have proposed has been plain packaging
and out of sight products. Vape products have colourful and cartoon-like packaging which
causes the product to be more appealing to the customer, therefore a higher chance of them
purchasing. However, ASH has proposed for packaging to become less colour and plain in
order for the customer to not find it appealing. In addition to this, by placing the products out
of sight this means that the customers' eyes are less likely to find vapes or cigarettes. (ASH,
2023)
ASH has also created a ‘No Smoking Day’, this is where members of the public that have
been affected from smoking whether it was the death of someone or themselves having to
suffer a certain illness. The public gathers at the Parliament and speaks about their
experiences, it is important for the government to be able to hear the experiences of the
public as many people suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to their
smoking habits or have suffered from losses of their family or friends due to smoking.
Therefore, if the government is able to hear and see the effect of smoking on the public they
are more likely to sympathise with them and be able to act upon as well as introduce new
legislations.
On a global scale, there are many promoters who encourage healthy living and support
campaigns in different countries who may begin to become global. The aim of all
governments is to promote the health of their own population and tackle health inequalities
within the country. Global promoters are World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations
(UN), Save The Children and Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders.
National promoters in the United Kingdom are the Department of Health (DH), Public Health
England (PHE), Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) and Health Professionals.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is within the United Nations agency which connects
nations across the globe, partners with people to promote health and keep the world safe
and serve the vulnerable. WHO promotes public health by creating healthy public policies,
building supportive environments and stretching the community action as well as personal
skills. The WHO also gathers information about continuities experiencing health problems
such as outbreaks in order to gain a better understanding about controlling the disease or
outbreak locally as well as globally. They also help assist affected areas with managing and
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Promoting Public Health
treating the disease itself. An example would be that they work with vaccination
programmes.
The United Nations (UN) helps to bring everyone together in order to tackle issues globally.
Discussions take place as all of the country leaders need to listen and accordingly take
actions to help others. The UN brings everyone together in order to make the politics and the
economic status of certain countries better. The main aim of the UN is to bring peace and
security to the people of the world as this has been created after the Second World War,
therefore the UN is responsible for keeping the countries and people safe.
Save The Children helps to save the children who are vulnerable and support all children in
having a good opportunity at their future. In the UK, this organisation helps children to stay
healthy, safe and encourages them to continue learning and staying in education in order so
the children become who they want to be. Save The Children also helps to remove barriers
that prevent children from surviving, learning and being protected, they aim to help children
reach their full potential. They promote health by strengthening and ensuring strong primary
health care policies in order to help children before they are born and after, this is mainly
aimed at poor countries and communities. An example of Save The Children promoting
health would be immunisation and sexual as well as reproductive health and their rights,
they also aim to tackle access to quality primary and community based health care services
in order to ensure fair access to everyone.
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders helps to provide assistance to
populations in distress, victims of natural or man made disasters and victims of armed
conflict. This organisation works with countries and victims who have been deprived of
healthcare due to disasters, an example of this would be that this organisation works with
Ukrainian people in order to provide medical care. More recently, due to the issue between
Israel and Plaestine, the Medecins Sans Frontieres would fly to Palestine in order to help the
injured victims, this is also due to the fact that the community of nurses, doctors and other
healthcare professionals have most likely decreased as a result of the attacks on the
country. They promote health by setting up projects all over the world order to develop
stradgies to address a wide range of health issues such as sexual violence and prevention
of Ebola.
As for the UK, I have mentioned before that the health promoters of this country are the
Department of Health (DH), Public Health England (PHE), Clinical Commissioning Groups
(CCG) and Health Professionals.
The Department of Health (DH), are in charge of the provision of appropriate health and
social care services, in clinical settings and in community settings. Their main objective is to
help people live more independent, healthier lives, they also fund and oversee the health
and social care system. The DH also looks after the nation's physical and mental health.
They promote health by providing high-quality and sustainable care at the right time and
right place, they are also involved in health promotion education meaning that they
encourage people to adopt activities, behaviours and attitudes which lead to better health
and well-being.