Final answer:
Public health improvements have often been achieved through initiatives that serve as public goods and create positive externalities, like sanitation systems and immunizations. The quest for public interest may also lead to discussions about the balance between private rights and public good, especially regarding the use of private property for the benefit of the broader community.
Step-by-step explanation:
Public health initiatives have delivered significant betterment to the public by leveraging positive externalities and by functioning as public goods. Through government funding, crucial systems like public sanitation and storm sewers were developed, correlating with core characteristics of public goods. These infrastructures are essential for a healthy society and their benefits are distributed widely across the population — a hallmark of public goods.
Public health has also improved due to advocacy and education, such as the early 20th-century hygiene instruction for mothers and anti-smoking campaigns in the latter part of the century. Advances in medical research from government and university funds have led to discoveries that serve the public interest. Additionally, the use of patents and intellectual property rights has facilitated an environment where private inventors can contribute to public health improvements while being rewarded for their innovation.
Economically, practices like immunization are predicated on controlling the spillover of diseases to decrease public health risks. Immunizations, while aiding the individual, help prevent the spread of illness, thus exemplifying the economic principle of preventing negative externalities and improving the public good.
In the pursuit of public interest, actions are taken not only based on the desires of the population but also on what should be desired for a just and equitable society. This notion holds creating a society with social justice and general welfare as paramount, considering it a responsibility of the government to promote a good society that betters the public.
An ongoing debate centers around whether the government should be able to take private property to provide economic benefit to the public at large. This touches on the concept of eminent domain and the balance between individual rights and the greater social and economic good. It is a nuanced discussion that examines the trade-offs and ethical considerations of utilizing private property for public ends.