Developing medical treatments and medications is expensive. Some people think that it is better to spend the money on health-oriented preventive education. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Good health is wealth, they say.

This

short quote speaks volumes about the importance of always being vibrant and healthy. Some people believe that,

instead

of investing heavily in creating drugs which can be used for curing ailments, resources should be channelled into awareness about the preservation of one's well-being. Both views have their merits and demerits. One advantage is that health education empowers society with knowledge that, when utilized accurately, can lead to the prevention of diseases.

For instance

, simple tactics

such

as hygiene practices, have been proven to reduce infection rates by over 90%. As

such

, if more individuals are well-informed regarding the preventive measures, fewer people will probably fall ill.

Secondly

, if the right knowledge is passed to the public about early symptoms of diseases, they will focus on frequent medical check-ups which will, in turn, ensure early detection.

For instance

, cancer, when detected on time, could be removed completely;

however

, when it is diagnosed in its later stages, there is little that can be done.

On the other hand

, when there is an uncontrolled level of medical information in the public domain, individuals resort to self-medication. While in some cases,

this

can be beneficial, in most other cases, the consequences are dire.

For example

, a mother who tries to treat her baby with off-the-shelf drugs can accidentally overdose the child resulting in death. Another disadvantage is the possibility of becoming overconfident.

Although

some level of self-confidence is important, it

also

has the characteristics of making us become adamant about obvious signs that our fitness level may be failing. Someone who has received broad enlightenment about the health benefits of exercise,

for instance

, may begin to feel invincible to sickness and ignore obvious warning signs. To conclude, both spending money on inventing solutions to medical challenges and allocating resources for enlightenment have their pros and cons. It is important,

therefore

, that effort is put into promoting both practices.