Preventive care is a vital part of healthcare in every society. It offers citizens far greater benefits than risks, but a lot of people often refuse and kick against it due to their personal beliefs, religious laws, and sometimes ignorance of the consequences. This pushback does not only affect the next person's health, it also serves as a means of passing down the same ignorant beliefs to one's children, whose health can later become a danger to society.
For example, a popular church leader in Nigeria actively preaches against the acceptance of vaccines. In fact, they make sure to convince their members with many conspiracy theories, and these people fall prey to such teachings out of ignorance.
Also, a lot of these people are vulnerable, which makes them quite easy to deceive. And considering how pastors are revered in this country, it's easy to follow their words without any form of due diligence. It's sad because many of such people who receive these advises from their local churches have no finances and absolutely no way out in the case of health emergencies. Meanwhile, it doesn't take these pastors 3 days to travel out of the country to obtain healthcare services that cost millions.
There are also people whose individual beliefs border on the ethics of preventive care. Holding this position does make sense because of the many lawsuits that have sprung from the administration of certain vaccines. In the past, we have read and heard about people who received certain vaccinnes and later experienced some side effects that were grave enough to cause some form of disability or lead to an entirely different disease. So this automatically creates fear for those in this category because, as much as they want some level of care for optimal health, they also consider the possibility of such medications causing harm to them.
However, I believe poorer countries still face a lot of misinformation when it comes to health risks. The education barrier is also quite high, and it is the reason a lot of people argue and refuse healthcare out of ignorance. The best way to solve this is for the common man to be sensitized enough to realize that preventive care is for his own benefit.
The average citizen of every country needs to understand that it is designed to detect health issues before they become serious problems, as well as enable patients to begin treatment early. They ought to be convinced that it prevents the most vulnerable people, like children, from ever contracting certain diseases. When that middle-aged man who has 4 underage kids in a slum realizes this, they will understand the benefits of preventive care and ensure not to incur avoidable consequences.
But in the case where one is adamant about not receiving preventive care, it would be wrong to forcefully administer medications to them and their loved ones. In healthcare, consent is required in nearly all cases, and this is not an exception. The only time it can decided upon with or without consent is when there is a disease outbreak and the individual in question isn't receptive to the idea of being vaccinated, knowing fully well that they may be putting others at risk of contracting it.
Ultimately, a parent or adult should be allowed to make health decisions for themselves and those under their care. But a victim of a widespread disease should not have any right to refuse healthcare of any form, as there is usually no moral or ethical reason to do so.
At the helm of this, the health and safety of every community must be prioritized. More awareness should be created to ensure that more people embrace the idea of preventive care, which in turn will lead to fewer health complications, low risks of contracting common diseases, and inexpensive medical costs in the long term.
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