This is an issue I first came across whilst studying Spanish Culture at A-Level, and now I hear talks of the same occurrence in the UK. The issue I am referring to is the recent bombshell dropped by the NHS about whether smokers and overweight people should receive treatment.
I was absolutely outraged at the mention of this, and I truly could not believe what I was hearing! So the government is happy to legally supply cigarettes to British Citizens so long as officials can sleep on beds of 50 notes gained from the extortionate tax, but they can't fork out the money to have those people treated when they are ill.
So the government is happy to supply clean needles and offer therapy and treatment to those unfortunate people with substance abuse - which, may I add, is illegal, and in a completely different league to cigarette smoking altogether! So why then, do smokers seem unworthy of receiving treatment. Are we bad people who deserve to be outcast? Should we carry bells wherever we go, and be forced to bleat out the word "unclean" so that others know that it is not safe to be near us? And then what about alcoholics - alcohol is just as legal, and just as addictive as cigarettes, and yet I don't hear of those people being threatened with refusal of treatment by the NHS!
However, what I find even more disturbing is the mention of overweight people being refused treatment! Will there be weighing scales at the entrance to each hospital where we will be checked to see if we are thin enough to qualify for assistance? And what about children? Will 'fat' children be refused treatment too? Or what about your festively plump grandma who needs a new hip, or a serious heart operation, will she be turned away, just because she's carrying an extra few pounds?

I just couldn't believe my ears, that when in this day and age where all people are considered equal by law, we are again being typecast and segregated because of personal choices. The NHS was put in place to protect British Citizens and ensure we all receive the treatment we need, whatever the circumstances - let's keep it that way!

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