(TheRedAlertNews.com) – Republican voters nationwide believe that illegal narcotics, including fentanyl, are the most significant public health threat in the United States, a new public opinion poll has found.
At the same time, Democrat voters consider access to “guns or firearms” as the greatest threat to Americans’ public health, according to the findings of the survey conducted by Axios and Ipsos, Newsmax reported.
The pollsters asked their respondents what they thought was “the current greatest threat to U.S. public health.”
For the Republican voters that they polled, the top three public health threats were opioids and fentanyl, then obesity, and then cancer.
The Democrat respondents ranked “gun or firearm access” first, followed by opioids and fentanyl, and obesity.
When each of the suggested public health threats was taken individually, opioids and fentanyl were still chosen by 26% of all polled – including 37% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats.
Obesity was ranked the second most significant public health threat in the U.S., with 21% overall, including 25% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats.
Access to guns or firearms came in third, with 17% of the respondents choosing it, including 35% of Democrats and 4% of Republicans.
Cancer was ranked fourth, with 12% overall, including 17% of Republicans and 9% of Democrats.
The Axios and Ipsos survey also established that most Americans think private health insurance companies should cover the cost of weight-loss drugs.
Most respondents also favored a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket insulin.
Nearly half of Americans – or 47% – declared themselves in favor of health insurance companies covering medical care connected with gender transition and other transgender procedures.
However, fewer than 20% of Republicans approve that proposition, while about three-thirds of Democrats favor it.
“Like everything else, public health is a tale of two Americas — one red, one blue,” commented Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs.
“Governments must be nimble to talk about multiple public health issues at once,” Young added.
The Axios and Ipsos survey polled 1,213 American adults nationwide between February 17 and February 21, 2023. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
What do you consider the biggest threat to public health in the United States? Share your answer by emailing [email protected].
POLL: Republicans rate opioids as the No. 1 threat to public health in the United States. https://t.co/vbYeoGlzIc
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 23, 2023
