It has been a busy time regarding public health. Last week a paper in the British Medical Journal offered strong evidence for fortifying foodstuffs with vitamin D as a way of preventing colds and flu. Over the weekend there was a call for GPs to give out prescriptions that covered not just drugs, but also lifestyle interventions. This might include specific recommendations such as gym membership, tailored dietary advice or entry to smoking cessation or weight loss programmes.
The holistic prescription idea is a good one and I can see how eye care practitioners might easily be able to support here. The supplementation of food raises other questions. Even though the evidence for any benefit from water fluoridation remains debated, the practice still occurs in the north-east, though I am assured it is not the communist plot mentioned in Dr Strangelove.
Food supplementation, especially that of bread, has been going on for years – the argument being it is more effective than relying on individuals to change their own dietary habit without there being a war to force matters. But why not go the whole hog and completely ban smoking, force food companies to cut sugar and salt content, and change pricing structures to encourage healthy options? Or, legalise everything, establish better education and maintain free will. Free will relies on informed choice and this is not usually the case (see under ‘referendum’).
If readers agree that keeping the public up to date with new research on health and disease prevention, then I hope you take part in this week’s interactive CET exercise which is designed to get us all thinking about the sorts of advice we might consider giving.
Finally, if you have not already seen it, I strongly recommend you watch ‘Notes on Blindness’, the moving Storyville film still available on BBC iPlayer. The film documents one man’s entry into blindness and asks questions such as ‘can the blind and sighted really understand each other, young and old, rich and poor?’ We have to try.