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The Causes And Consequences Of Popular Publicized Health Issues

Good Essays

Ryan Foree
Dr. Karlin
WRIT 150
22 September 2014
Under the Microscope:
The Causes and Consequences of Popular Publicized Health Issues Driving along the highway, billboards and posters plague the side of the road catching the eye of every passerby. These health campaign signs make the reader want to finally complete his or her application to join 24 Hour Fitness, to go and get vaccinated for HPV, or to pick up a credit card and donate to an “important” cause. Whether being a piece of paper on a bulletin board or a five-minute news segment on CNN, these forms of media are the catalyst of actions of participation and many others. However, the majority of people do not stop to think why these advertisements are so effective and why they feel …show more content…

Breast Cancer topped the list netting over 257 million dollars, while affecting 41,000 people. However Heart disease was ranked first for the amount of deaths, yet only received around 50 million dollars in funds (Bushak). In relation to health advertisements, popularity defines the level of awareness and amount of media coverage a particular health issue is receiving. It can also affect the amount of funding received, as shown in the study. Importance denotes the severity of the disease, and how many patients it affects. Importance is rather straight forward, while the reason why something is popular is a little more complex.
When trying to promote awareness for a health issue, campaigners attempt to make their cause popular by appealing to the values that society is drawn to. Campaign designers are fully aware that an important, deadly, highly contagious disease, could possibly receive little to no media coverage. It is all about strategic campaigning; how an issue is portrayed and what values they appeal to. For example, examine the issues of childhood obesity, which affects 17% of all children in America, and oral health disease, the most common infectious disease in the world ("Childhood Overweight and Obesity"). Both conditions have elements of

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