How might the ethos of individualism assist and complicate public health efforts to enact anti-tobacco public policy and campaigns.

In an individualistic society like US, the focus is on individuals and their progress and freedom; the rationale behind this being that progress of one man when accumulated by many will lead to the larger good of the society or the country. On the contrary, eastern and south asian societies largely focus on the larger good of the family or the society and individuals are of lesser importance in front of the larger good of the country. The different ethos of individualism affect how people of these varied cultures perceive health policies and enact them. This is especially true for public health problems like tobacco use, where prevention policies may lead to a clash of the individual freedom with the society good.

Although the decision to consume tobacco is largely individual, it is influenced by societal parameters and also influences the society as a whole. In an individualistic society, impression about a particular habit for the whole society is never formed or projected well. Smoking may be considered grossly inappropriate by people and individuals yet in the space of individual freedom, a group impression of smoking being inappropriate is not formed and even if formed, not projected as well on the individual. This is in contrast to other societies where every habit of an individual is scrutinized and a positive or negative connotation attached to these; the society has and projects an image of each individual based on his/her habits. This differing ways in which societies work largely affects the interventions in place and their effect in curbing tobacco use.

Smoking is harmful for the individual and also for those around him, yet most policies in effect largely focus on decreasing use amongst smokers. This is a product of an individualistic society where community is of lesser importance. The ban on smoking in public places is still relatively new in contrast with taxes and warning on tobacco products. Personal freedom is curbed when such policies, as ban on smoking in public spaces is enforced and thus is more difficult to enforce in an individualistic society than others given the same level of human development and other resources. In societies focusing on communities, developing a negative view for a habit in the public has a huge impact. The focus should not be on trying to make the individual to stop smoking by imposing taxes and warning symbols but more on bans in public places which are well circulated within the community. Health messages focusing on harmful effects of passive smoking have a bigger impact on tobacco use than those elucidating effect of active smoking. 

Nevertheless, public health as a field of science is still largely undeveloped in such community societies and largely borrow from tried and tested interventions in the western world where individual is the center of the society. Till these interventions are adapted to differing societal nature, there will be little effect on the public health problem in question.