Some people say that governments should focus on reducing environmental pollution and housing problems to help people prevent illness and disease. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
政府应该纵观社会问题，同时决定哪些问题需要优先解决
It is argued that governments should prioritise reducing pollution and housing issues to combat public health issues. I partly agree that governments should focus on these problems as other important issues need to be addressed as well.
Environmental pollution is a leading cause of detrimental effects on health and long-term sickness. Focusing on the reduction of environmental pollution helps reduce the medical burden on the government and also improves the wellbeing of people. For example, studies from Japan have shown that people in less-polluted areas are more likely to have a longer life span than those living close to factories or nuclear plants. Countries that are not suffering from environmental pollution on a large scale usually have a lower cost on maintaining public health. Meanwhile, the shortage of quality housing can result in similar health problems and concerns, as adults who are homeless or children living in the ghetto are certainly more prone to disease and illness.
Nonetheless, over-allocating the government's resources to those two issues has negative consequences for different areas of society. Highly-developed infrastructure and education are critical to a strong economy and neglecting these in favour of citizens’ general health will not benefit our society.
Also, providing citizens with a first-rate education helps develop critical industries that make a society internationally competitive. In contrast, if a country is full of healthy but undereducated people, the economy will not grow strong.
In conclusion, focusing on environmental protection and housing is essential for public health. However, other crucial areas like education and infrastructure must also be funded as they have a positive impact on the public.