Prevention is Better than Cure, so why isn't Government Policy more Preventive?
| Author | Paul Cairney |
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/2041-9066.12114 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
36 POLITICAL INSIGHT • DECEMBER 2015
We are living in an ‘age of
austerity’ in which the
UK Government seeks
to reduce spending to
deal with economic crisis and the rising
demand for public services. It is common
to hear that our public services are close to
breaking point. But while ‘austerity politics’
grabs the headlines, another agenda
is equally important in policymaking
circles – ‘prevention’. NHS England has
said that a ‘radical upgrade in prevention
and public health is necessary to ensure
service sustainability, while the Treasury
considers that preventing ‘poor outcomes
from arising in the first place’ would benefit
everybody by stemming costly social
and health problems. In Scotland too,
prevention is at the heart of the ‘radical,
new, collaborative culture’ underpinning
the current public sector reform agenda.
Prevention Policy
Prevention policy refers broadly to
government actions to intervene early
in people’s lives, to reduce their need for
acute and reactive services. Prevention
can take many forms, across a notional
spectrum, from the preemption of issues
appearing in the first place, to efforts
aimed at preventing further harm from
occurring. Primary prevention aims to
stop problems from emerging. Seat-belt
laws and population-wide vaccination
campaigns, are common examples of
primary prevention policy. Secondary
prevention refers to early interventions
aimed at stopping problems getting
worse. Breast cancer screening protocols
Prevention is
Better Than Cure,
So Why isn’t
Government Policy
More Preventive?
Prevention has become a
watchword in UK policy debates
– so why do governments seldom
follow through on commitments
to implement prevention
policies? Paul Cairney and Emily
St Denny report on new research
on prevention in practice.
Image: © Press Association.
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