Public health and coercion

What this lesson covers

Two tools: the harm principle and the ladder
Where the harm principle bends
Smoking: the smoke-free generation
Sugar and vaccines
How this comes up on the day

The words to use

Harm principle: Mill's view that the state may coerce a person against their will only to prevent harm to others, not for their own good.
Intervention ladder: The Nuffield Council's ranking of public health policies from doing nothing to eliminating choice. Higher rungs need stronger justification.
Proportionality: Whether a measure's benefits justify its intrusion and cost, and whether a less intrusive option would work as well.
Smoke-free generation: The rule that anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 can never legally be sold tobacco in the UK, with sales offences from 1 January 2027.
Condition of deployment: Making a job depend on a health measure, such as Covid-19 vaccination for care home staff in England until it was revoked in March 2022.

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The words to use

Harm principle

Mill's view that the state may coerce a person against their will only to prevent harm to others, not for their own good.

Intervention ladder

The Nuffield Council's ranking of public health policies from doing nothing to eliminating choice. Higher rungs need stronger justification.

Proportionality

Whether a measure's benefits justify its intrusion and cost, and whether a less intrusive option would work as well.

Smoke-free generation

The rule that anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 can never legally be sold tobacco in the UK, with sales offences from 1 January 2027.

Condition of deployment

Making a job depend on a health measure, such as Covid-19 vaccination for care home staff in England until it was revoked in March 2022.