Some opine that prevention is better than cure and that a larger proportion of a country’s health budget should be diverted from treatment to spending on health education and preventative measures. I agree that money should be allocated for preventative measures only to a small extent as cure is still the ultimate solution to illnesses.
Although preventative measures contribute to lowering the risks and raising the awareness of potential health hazards, people can not recover from diseases without medical treatments. Preventative measures such as vaccines greatly lower the risk of falling ill. However, it does not mean that you are able to completely prevent yourself from any virus. People still contract diseases even after receiving immunization. In addition, health education at school, talks and campaigns, play a role in raising awareness of detrimental habits in one’s lifestyle. However, there are many sicknesses that cannot be fully prevented as it is out of our control. For instance, genetic illnesses such as type 1 diabetes and breast cancer, or second hand smoking caused by the surrounding environments cannot be resolved by simply implementing educational programmes. The approach is idealistic but not realistic, in which it only exerts a small impact on people’s health. Considering its subtle impact on people’s health, it is not worthwhile to compromise the expenses spent on medical support.
On the contrary, monetary spending on medical treatment and advancing its technologies is essential for humans to support a healthy community. Provided that illnesses are not completely avoidable even with preventative measures, there is a need for one country to have sufficient medical supplies to meet the needs of its citizens. Coupled with adequate medical supplies, expenses on providing hospitalisation for patients who need supervision should also be taken into account. Such systems form the fundamental aspects of safeguarding the health of individuals in a country. In addition, in light of the rapid development of societies, new forms of viruses and bacteria are constantly invading into the daily lives of humans. In order to improve the current medical technology and effectively control the spread of new diseases, there is a need to allocate funding on medical research consistently. Without monetary support from the government, it is difficult to upgrade one’s medical appliances and technology, not to mention carrying out further research. For instance, students from KAIST University in South Korea have recently conducted research on new methods to heal cancers, which were previously incurable and fatal. This could not be done without monetary budgets. Health budget on treatments does not only benefit the current community, but it is a step forward for humans in the fields of science. Government spending on medical supplies is seen to be important to a larger extent as to foster the medical development of societies.
In conclusion, despite the advantages of education and preventative measures, a larger proportion of a country’s health budget should be consumed on providing medical treatment to ill individuals and cultivating the growth of human knowledge in science.