The nation has seen how the health and wellbeing of the population affects us all. Pressure on the NHS reduces its ability to care for us as individuals when we need it. Many people coming out of this pandemic will be looking to improve their health, however many people will not know what aspects of their health might need improving. The introduction of nation-wide health checks across the entire population in a standardised and cost-effective manner would help inform individuals about their current health and screen for potential issues. Checks like this are already offered privately but would become for more valuable across the population as a whole. This information could not just be used by the individual but could be used to influence policies that affect health e.g. air pollution. This gives improved impetus to government and makes results from policy change clearer. People cannot be forced to live healthy lives and do not have control over all the factors affecting their health but by knowing what their current health is like and what the risk factors are they are more likely to take action. This proposal would involve dedicated testing centres that monitor a person’s health from birth with clear, standardised, and easily available data for individuals and the population at whole. To be cost-effective it needs to help people stay healthy from a young age and not just catch illnesses once they appear, like some current checks. Prevention is nearly always more cost effective than treatment.
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