The Pew Research Center conducted a national survey to find out how well the U.S. is tackling a number of public health issues. While there was a perception of progress in the areas of cancer, AIDS and cigarette smoking, mental health care, alcohol and prescription drug abuse received the poorest grades.
The findings indicated that 79 percent of Americans see cancer as the leading health concern, with 54 percent of those surveyed saying the country was making definite inroads in dealing with this disease. Headway against cigarette smoking was also perceived, with 45 percent versus 13 percent who said were losing ground. The fight against AIDS was at 48 percent versus those who feel we’re failing at 12 percent.
Obesity is a hot topic in the country but the grade card was a toss-up, with 28 percent seeing progress and 34 percent seeing a fall back. Another 36 percent believe there has been no change either way.
Only 17 percent saw alcohol abuse as being effectively confronted: 23 percent felt the country was losing ground and 58 percent viewed the problem as unchanged.
The worst results were regarding mental illness and prescription drug abuse, though this may not be a surprise when mass shootings attributed to people with mental illness have recently drawn worldwide attention. Just 19 percent of those surveyed felt that America is making any real progress in dealing with mental illness, and 35 percent said the country is losing ground.
On the prescription drug front, a small 16 percent felt that we are moving forward while 37 percent felt that we were falling behind. It is true that prescription drug abuse is on an upward trend when most other drugs are on a downward track. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that deaths related to prescription drug misuse are climbing.
