Illegalize it!

I saw a hand washing poster on the street. I started thinking and guessing.

Officials have knowledge about how much a hand washing campaign costs and what kind of results to expect (x percentage less infected). Officials can make an excel sheet out of the data and calculate wheter they should make a campaign or not.

When the campaign hits the streets, I, the individual will get it wrong. I shall not wash my hands because I am a fatalist, or I know better, that hygiene is actually bad for my health. I may even think it is stuffing bacteria-hysteria down my throat, beacause of a consipiracy. In any case, I think the campaign is to keep me healthy so I weight the campaign message against my personal health.

Actually the campaign is a tool to minimize the cost on society, not a tool to minimize the illness of an individual. The same with vaccination: Not a tool to keep individual healthy, but a tool to fight epidemics, with a side effect of keeping the individuals healthy.

Officials have a range of tools to fight the epidemics. I don't know the available tools and how effective they are. But that didn't stop me to invent the ultimate tool that everyone understands. What if there was a law, that getting the flu is illegal? Big fine for getting the flu, small fine for forgetting to wash hands.

Yes, yes, impossible idea in all of the imaginable levels. But please play along with the thought.

We tend to respect the law, or own interpretation of it. At least we know what is legal, what is not and the reasons why. Speed limits are not for my safety, but for the general road safety. I don't cross the road when the light is red, if there are children around me. For the same reason, to strenghten good practices in society, I wear bike helmet, even though the law doesn't yet require it.

Epidemics require individuals to understand the big picture. That is difficult. Obaying a law is not.

Don't take this too seriously, but think about it: You may not spread AIDS, why are you allowed to spread influenza?