This House Would Decline Medical Service to Smokers, Alcoholics And The Obese
We are the proposition and are totally in accordance with the motion. First and foremost I would like to redefine the motion to This House would decline priority medical treatment to those who choose not to help themselves, i.e. make poor lifestyle choices. I am going to discuss how the main lifestyle choices affect the NHS and furthermore how the taxpayer is forced to compensate for an unworthy cause.
In the UK it is estimated that up to 9,500 beds are blocked daily by smokers, and that up to eight million doctor consultations are required on their behalf each year. While it is true that smokers often pay a lot of tax for their habit, taxation is necessary as a deterrent and to fund the NHS for people who genuinely require treatment. The money that the NHS should be used for more worthy causes, such as people suffering from more serious illnesses which weren’t brought upon by themselves. Moreover, the core point again is about free choice. Smokers choose to buy tobacco and pay tax; it is not forced upon them. 8 of the top ten deaths in men in the UK are linked to smoking, two of the most prevalent being lung cancer and heart disease which costs millions to cure every year. We accept that nobody chooses either to be rich but always or suddenly ill, or to be poor but always healthy. But everyone who chooses to smoke - chooses to smoke, everyone who chooses to eat excessively - chooses to eat excessively etc.
