MEDICINE
New hepatitis C drugs have a 90 percent survival rate .
Can we prevent hepatitis C ? percent of all deaths in the United States , administering immunizations to prevent infectious diseases , and reducing exposure to harmful environmental factors .
Secondary prevention can reduce the severity of diseases , such as cancer and heart disease , through screening programs that detect the diseases or their risk factors at early stages , before they become symptomatic or disabling .
Tertiary prevention – the effort to avoid or defer the complications of diseases after they have developed – is the current focus of medical care .
The health benefits of prevention are intuitive – it is wiser to prevent a disease than to face its consequences at a more advanced stage – but for many years policymakers , politicians , and professionals have also advanced the economic argument that prevention saves money .
Prevention is seen as the touchstone of a redesigned system focused on improving health outcomes .
Health is a good , and goods – whether they are national security , clean water , or a new car – are not purchased to save money . They are purchased for the nonmonetary
10 May 2015