Some people say that the government should ensure that people lead to a healthy life, while others believe that individuals should have their own choices. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

There has been rising concern on a range of global health issues in the last few decades. Under such worries, a considerable number of people have started to ask for assistance from governments and regard solving these health threats as the responsibility of the state. From my perspective, the benefit of implementing government intervention outweighs its drawbacks. Dealing with health issues, despite being closely related to the life quality of the population, is commonly believed as citizens’ own troubles, instead of the state’s duty. One crucial reason for this opinion is that intervention from governments is prone to deteriorate the domestic economy as a whole. Specifically, industries that are considered to be harmful to citizens’ physical conditions are likely to suffer. Take the fast-food industry as an example, the local government may choose to impose a consumption tax on fast foods to reduce people’s incentive to purchase these products. Although the possibility for residents to follow an unhealthy diet decreases, the number of fast-food restaurants tends to shrink, where thousands of labour forces are employed. As a consequence, massive unemployment from closing these shops could become a more severe problem. Nevertheless, the advantages of applying governments’ assistance are twofold. Not only is it beneficial to the physical and mental well-being of individuals, but also it is advantageous for accomplishing several macroeconomic objectives for the country. Generally, individuals tend to be reluctant to follow a healthy living style. Therefore, assistance from outsiders, such as sports coaches and private doctors, becomes indispensable. However, recruiting these professionals is unaffordable for the majority of residents, which enlarges the need to find complementary services from the authorities. On top of this, guaranteeing the fitness status of citizens could release the pressure on the medical system. This is because individuals’ immune systems are strengthened when they lead healthy lifestyles, for which they are less likely to be attacked by virus and bacterium and could thus reduce their need for medical treatment. Consequently, the state is able to reduce its investment in hospitals and utilize its limited budgets in other fields, such as infrastructure. To put everything into consideration, despite the suffering of related industries, the involvement of government benefits both the physical well-being of residents and could release the strain on the medical system, for which I believe applying interventions is more advantageous on balance.