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Editorial
Public policy, private choices can share credit
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Public officials can do a lot to improve life, but there's no getting around taking responsibility for our own actions.
Two stories in the last 24 hours make that point in different ways.
One, a report from the National Cancer Institute and a group of cancer and health organizations, reported that cancer diagnoses and deaths have continued to decline in the United States, according to the latest data.
The data were mostly driven by drops in the three most common cancers in men -- lung, prostate and colorectal -- and for two of the three leading cancers in women -- breast and colorectal, according to the researchers.
New diagnoses for all types of cancer combined fell an average of nearly 1 percent per year from 1999 to 2006, and cancer deaths decreased 1.6 percent a year from 2001 to 2006.
Better screening -- an issue in light of recent recommendations that mammograms and other tests might be safely postponed -- and better lifestyle choices such as stopping smoking and a better diet -- are credited for the improvement.
Another report showed that drunken-driving fatality rates have fallen in 40 states and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The department said fatality rates involving alcohol-linked crashes declined by 20 percent or more in Nebraska, seven other states and the District of Columbia.
Unfortunately, rates increased in Kansas, Colorado and five other states.
States that made the most progress on impaired driving fatalities had been the most aggressive in arresting and prosecuting offenders and using patrols and checkpoints to keep their roads save.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have set a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent as the legal limit for drivers.
Both reports credited public and private factors for progress.
No, the government can't be all things to all people. No government program can replace personal responsibility and self-respect when it comes to making wise lifestyle choices.
But public policy can encourage us to make good decisions regarding our health and safety.