Consumer Health Responsibilities
Avoiding knowingly spreading diseases
How to avoid spreading diseases
- Wash your hands regularly.
- Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and wash your hands afterwards.
- Avoid physical contact with anyone if you're contagious.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Why is this important?
This is important because if you spread a contagious disease, more people will become sick. If there are more people that are sick, there are more people that have to go to the doctor. This means we have to pay more money.
How does spreading disease affect the healthcare system?
When sickness spreads, more people have to go to the doctor. There is already a national shortage of doctors, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. We're down about 20,000 now, and the number is expected to get worse as nearly half the nation's physicians are over age 50 -- meaning many are at or near retirement age. And it's not just doctors who are in short supply; we also need more nurses, according to the American Medical Association. This can cause an issue with supply and demand.