What the Governments Role Implicates on Basic Human Rights, Essay Example

Food is a basic need that humans have full control of especially in terms of what they want to eat, especially if these choices are available in the market. The context of basic human rights recognizes that when it comes to this matter, every person has the right to pic what food fits his mood and what he thinks does fit his basic health needs. However, it is also because of this particular right that some individuals have developed particular inkling towards developing healthcare issues including that of obesity. Lately, the issue of obesity and its growing impact upon members of the modern communities has increased alarm especially when it comes to determining the role of the government in responding to the situation.

New York, being one of the most urbanized cities in the world faces the same stress in social healthcare. The rising number of individuals developing obesity has caused the local government to look into the situation and become involved in the matter more personally. The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, then released a rule regarding the banning of soda beverages [and other beverages with high sugar content from being sold in the market]. Although the ban was overruled, this instance presents a rather important course of indication on the role and the authority that the government has over the decisions of the community.

Agreeably, the government’s role is basically defined under the need to protect the overall concerns of the community. When problems arise, it is the government’s responsibility to step in and become more effective in directing situations for the sake of the betterment of the whole community [including a focus on each individual’s welfare]. The case with the obesity-rising situation in New York proves that the government does have a distinct role in making sure that the current situation of the society is well-defined and assisted for the sake of gaining best results.

Directed towards imposing protection, the government sees the statistics and is alarmed accordingly when something already needs to be done. However, unlike individual decisions, the government should be able to seek particular balance on how they are going to deal with a specific issue especially in relation to who would be affected by the decisions that they make. Considerably, in the case that was presented, the mayor felt responsible when it comes to making sure that his people’s health situation is protected. Obesity is a serious situation; it might cause huge problems especially if it is not addressed immediately. People who develop obesity often undergo the different conditions of complications years later. This then causes the government to spend more money in healthcare than they ought to. This is the reason why prevention has been the high way that the mayor took into account.

Is this basically a confirmation by which the rights of the people are being looked over? While it is the right of a person to choose what he wants to eat, the way it affects his health is one of the concerns of the government. The government’s authority over such matter does create a more distinct indication on how their assets, the people, are being well protected. Practically, the government makes decisions that would create a more positive impact towards the lifestyle of the larger mass of the population. Given the proper direction from research, statistics and practically advised decisions, the guidance coming from the government should be viewed as something that would best create a definite indication on how the rights of the people are protected rather than trampled. In this case, the right of individuals to have a better health status is addressed through proper administrational guidance from the government.

Works Cited

Ball, Olivia; Gready, Paul (2006). The no-nonsense guide to human rights. New Internationalist (Oxford).

Freeman, Michael (2002). Human rights : an interdisciplinary approach. Cambridge: Polity Press.