While for most people the novel coronavirus is harmless or has mild symptoms only, almost the whole global economy was shut down to protect the most vulnerable. This shows that it is possible to take health seriously, but it also highlights the many other dangers to our health that could be easily avoided, yet the rulers of our societies have chosen not to. It is time for this to change, and to protect our health the following policies are proposed. We are certain that many more will follow.
→ Second-hand smoking is known to be harmful. To avoid it, smokers from now on shall wear a sealed full-face helmet while smoking, to disallow the poisonous fumes from escaping and to allow the smokers to take full responsibility for their actions.
→ Air pollution is linked to an endless list of negative health effects, from respiratory problems to cognitive impairment. Automobiles from now on must be designed to have an air-tight cabin and the exhaust pipe shall lead directly to this very cabin. In the long term, this is expected to also improve noise-pollution.
→ Austerity and underfunding health-care has been demonstrated to have a major negative effect on life expectancy. To avoid this, a lifespan-credit is introduced among politicians. When a politician first enters office, their life expectancy is noted in a database as their lifespan-credit. This is never reset. However, before voting on any law, that law's effect on life expectancy is estimated, and after voting, the amount is reduced from those politicians who voted to approve it. For example, if reducing the funding of healthcare is projected to reduce the life-expectancy of the poorest 5 million by 5 years, every approving politician's lifespan-credit is reduced by 25 million years. There is no way to increase the amount of lifespan-credit or to transfer it among politicians. However, once a politician runs out of their credits, they are summary executed.
