Describe the public health issue. Include the following information: (a) what population is affected, (b) at what level does it occur (local, state, or national), and (c) evidence about the issue supported by resources. Discuss how the public health issue is addressed by the current policies.

Healthcare Environmental Policy Issue Brief

The Policy Health Issue

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EAP) is a body given responsibility to create public health policies that protect Americans from unhealthy environmental pollutions and changes. The institution is also responsible for ensuring that communities around the US are clean and safe. However, EAP has failed to protect Americans from environmental harm.

The institution has changed air quality standards, and this has made American children vulnerable to asthma. According to Hasaneen and El-Halwagi (2017), the EAP has changed several policies and thus, allowing manufacturing companies to release soot and smog-forming pollutants in the air. Some of these firms include power plants, industrial facilities, and oil and gas extraction.

The system has allowed manufacturing companies to release toxic contaminants such as lead, arsenic, and mercury into the air. The policy issue has affected most people in the Black, Asia, and Latino American communities. The change of the Clean Air Act has affected people across the United States. This paper recommends steps that can be taken to reduce the effects of emitted toxic pollutants into the air.

Problem Statement

The pollutant allowed into the air as a result of changed Clean Air Act has adverse effects on people. Witten (2016) reports that the impurities can affect a person’s cardiac health by hardening the heart’s blood vessels and thus, increasing the risks of heart failure, stroke, and attacks. Also, the pollutants are linked with certain psychological conditions such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Further, contaminants such as arsenic and mercury are linked with respiratory conditions such as lung cancer, emphysema, as well as bronchitis. According to DeSalvo et al. (2016), pollutants can also cause asthma in children.

Also, the toxins may damage children’s brain and thus, affecting their cognitive development. Lead and mercury toxins also cause pneumonia in children. According to Wysokińska (2016), about one million children aged five years and below lose their lives every year from pneumonia caused by air pollution. DeSalvo et al. (2016) argue that this is evident because compared to adults, children spend more time outside.

Moreover, air pollution caused by lead, mercury, and arsenic has been associated with miscarriages during pregnancies. Toxins have also led to autism spectrum condition in children and premature birth. Lastly, according to Wysokińska (2016), the pollutants might reduce a person’s immune system and thus, making him or her susceptible to other diseases.

Solution to the Issue

Every American must do their best to ensure that they live in clean and safe air as far as their health is concerned. Oil and gas and coal industry are the largest emitters of toxic gases into the air. Therefore, the United States government should work on replacing oil, gas, and coal with less polluting fuels such as solar power, wind, fusion nuclear energy, and natural gas. DeSalvo et al. (2016) argue that this can be done by creating a body to regulate and conduct researches on green energy.

The stakeholders that must be included in forming the body are the general public, the congress, and the executive. After the formation of the body, the government should avail finances for so that it can start working on researches about solar power, wind, fusion nuclear energy, and natural gas. Wysokińska (2016) estimates that replacing half of the coal, oil and gas energy might cost the US taxpayers about $180 billion.

Another way of mitigating air pollution is by enacting laws that ensure that the EAP is an independent body. According to Evans (2017), this can be done by tabling a bill in parliament which protects the EAP from external influence, including the executive branch and allowing it to make policies that ensure clean and safe air.

The Impact of the Issue on the Health Care Delivery System

Healthcare industry is one of the disciplines which will benefit when the above policies are implemented. Today, the government of the US spends billions of dollars to solve environmental health problems. However, if the policy issue is addressed, sectors such as healthcare entirely will receive more funding from the government. The funds can be used to improve the