It’s more important for governments to spend public funds on promoting a healthy lifestyle than treatment. Do you agree or disagree?

A healthy person is an asset to the family

as well as

the nation and a government which recognises

this

fact is likely to propagate a healthy lifestyle and provide the means to sustain it.

This

essay agrees that it is more acceptable for the state to invest in providing support to citizens to live healthy lives rather than expensive methods of curing sicknesses. On the one hand, governments have to build many huge hospitals with modern equipment and skilled personnel to treat more than 75% of the population (say in India), who are consistently suffering from various illnesses.

For example

, hordes of ill people who queue up in government hospitals on any day of the week are the reason for

such

high investment by the authorities.

Moreover

, the data from medical insurance companies illustrates that on average 50% of the population buys insurance worth one lakh of rupees for medical treatment every year.

This

proves how expensive it is to fall sick and get treatment for recovery even in a government hospital.

On the other hand

, as most sicknesses are a result of malnutrition, a bad diet, and a lack of adequate exercise, they can be prevented if proper steps are taken before an attack of a disease. Prevention is better than cure is a medically proven saying. It has been found that efforts taken to maintain good health do not require huge amounts of money. There have been some efforts by the authorities to provide free gym equipment in public parks and run school programs for stamina building, which are much less of an investment than hospitals.

Similarly

, using the existing public distribution system to provide healthy foodstuffs to citizens,

along with

information on a wholesome diet is not cost intensive.

To conclude

, there are more economical ways which are pre-emptive in nature, which can be executed by the state to create a healthy citizenry, rather than wait for them to be ill before spending lakhs of rupees to get them back on their feet. Some of these economic measures include promoting exercise, and ensuring that a good diet is accessible to every citizen.