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43
HEALTH EDUCATION
"Less medicine and more advice" is a precept quoted in the Report
of the Joint Committee on Health Education.
The Report also states that in addition to providing information,
Health Education must seek to persuade people to take action on the advice
given. This may be by:—
(i) Specific action by the individual as in the case of vaccination
and immunisation;
(ii) Changing or inculcating a habit or attitude of mind, e.g. overeating
or heavy smoking: attitude to mental illness;
(iii) Support for community action, e.g. Clean Air, Fluoridation,
Health Services;
(iv) Knowing when to consult a doctor, especially at the early stage
of a serious disease, e.g. Cancer Education.
One obstacle to effective health education is that of external antipressures,
often commercial, who, with financial resources which must
be the envy of those interested in Health Education, sometimes make misleading
claims, and perhaps, by emphasis on illness rather than health,
encourage self medication.
It is both commendable and encouraging that the Government have
secured the co-operation of the tobacco industry in the abolition of commercial
advertising of cigarettes on television, which often tended to associate
cigarette smoking with sophistication or excitement. Yet commerce can
itself contribute to health education, an example being the Oral Hygiene
Service who, although having an obvious vested interest in promoting the
sale of toothpaste and brushes, are probably contributing more to dental
education than the Government itself—they need to with annual sales
allowing one toothbrush per person per annum.
The ultimate object of Health Education is perhaps summed up in the
attainment of health, as defined by the World Health Organisation, namely,
"a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not simply
the absence of disease or infirmity". This may well involve some facets
of social education and often the two fields are inter-allied.
Inducing a change of habit is probably the most difficult task. One
might think that the considerable publicity associating Lung Cancer with
heavy cigarette smoking might be an effective deterrent, not that the
induction of fear is the best approach—it seems to have little effect on
young people in their physical prime who can hardly be expected to worry
about what might happen to their lungs in forty years time. Perhaps more
emphasis should be laid on the financial aspect, physical fitness, or just
plain ridicule.