people sometimes respond more to financial incentives than to health incentives

The third political party in the United Kingdom the Liberal Democrats have announced new plans which they say could have a significant effect on the health of all citizens. The plans will involve special tax concessions given to individuals who give up smoking or who lose weight. The Liberal Democrat Health spokesman Mr. Norman Lamb said that they had come up with a plan which envisaged tax breaks of up to £6 weekly which could be given to those people getting regular exercise and losing weight.

The idea would also be that parents could benefit from these tax breaks by enrolling their children in health clubs where they would get regular exercise. The scheme is being modeled on one which already has been rolled out in California and has been responsible for cutting smoking rates by as much as six percent. Other initiatives announced by Mr Lamb at the Liberal Democrat party conference were fines for those people who did not turn up to doctors’ appointments.

The concept is that people sometimes respond more to financial incentives than health incentives when it comes to things like losing weight and quitting smoking. One of the most often cited reasons for quitting smoking is that it is very expensive to buy a package of cigarettes despite the fact that the greatest harm to the person is not financial but to his or her health.

Another thing which should be borne in mind is that by spending money to get people to lose weight or quit smoking eventually ends up saving the government millions of pounds in health care costs. Preventative initiatives to stop people putting on weight and to quit smoking are far more cost effective than curative initiatives which very often don’t work anyway.

While many of the Liberal Democrats suggestions have some merit it is unlikely that they will ever see the light of day because they are extremely unlikely ever to be elected.  It is hoped that the other political parties may borrow some of their ideas.