The Evaluation Of Public Health Education Initiatives On Smoking And Lung Cancer: An Ethical Critique

The focus of this chapter is on ways in which public health information is communicated to the public. In particular it argues that the information concerning the relationship between smoking and lung cancer can convey the wrong messages. The authors' research has shown that the lay public believe that cessation of smoking (or never smoking at all) is almost a guarantee that the individual will not contract lung cancer, and that if this is not the case, they feel in some way 'cheated'. The empirical material demonstrates this very clearly. Their case is that, in order to be more 'ethical', the information given to the public should make it clear that smoking does not inevitably lead to lung cancer and that not smoking cannot guarantee freedom from the disease.