[EQ] Is clinical prevention better than cure?

Is clinical prevention better than cure?

 

Barbara Starfield, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Juan Gérvas, Royal College of General Practitioners, London, UK (I Heath FRCGP)- Equipo CESCA, Madrid, Spain

Lancet 2008 Viewpoint

www.thelancet.com Vol. 372 - December 6, 2008

Website: www.thelancet.com [Subscription required]

 

“…….In wealthy countries, the focus of clinical care is changing from cure to prevention, to anticipate future diseases in currently healthy individuals. We review the challenges that clinicians face, such as: prevention can cause harm; predicting the benefit of preventive activities for the individual, as opposed to the group, can be difficult; prevention is not of equal value to everyone; and prevention is beginning to take priority over treatment.

 

Clinicians need to be vigilant to avoid colluding with those who have vested interests in some preventive activities.

Finding the right balance between prevention and treatment is a daily challenge. Many reasons exist for the increased emphasis on prevention, including the identification of risk factors for disease, increased social expectations of a long and healthy life, and collusion of many commercial and professional interests in profiting from the creation of new markets:1–3 the social, professional, and financial rewards for prevention can be considerable.

 

In clinical care, treatments are intended to cure or alleviate symptoms and signs. By contrast, prevention is done to ward off something in the future. Clinical prevention, including immunisation and lifestyle advice, is an important and positive component of almost every clinical visit. However, with increasing responsibility for specific populations and recognition of the many diverse influences on the occurrence and progression of illness, the concepts underlying prevention have become muddled….”

 

 

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
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Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMS Area]

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[EQ] Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity - Meeting Jamaica 19-20 february 2009

Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity

University of Ottawa Institute of Population Health - Canada

 Meeting 19-20 February 2009 University of West Indies, Mona Jamaica campus

 

 

Greetings! I am writing to invite you to the upcoming CanUSACLEN regional meeting on February 19^th and 20^th, 2009 at the University of West Indies, Mona Jamaica campus.
Website: http://www.mona.uwi.edu/.

 

This two day meeting will include a] the official launch of the University of West Indies CEU within CanUSACLEN  and a regional meeting for CanUSACLEN where there will be no lectures and the  agenda will be driven by the participants.

 

CanUSACLEN, as you may know, is a regional network of institutions in Canada, the United States and now the Caribbean, dedicated to contributing to the goals of INCLEN Trust International, i.e., improving the health and development of populations of developing countries:http://www.canusaclen.uottawa.ca/eng/

 

CanUSACLEN is further dedicated to equity and improving the health and health care of underserved populations in our own region, as we are convinced that many of the challenges facing health and health care of populations in developing countries are similar to those facing underserved populations in our own countries. 

 

We work towards these objectives in two ways:

- building capacity for the core health disciplines our respective countries, as well as collaborating with other regional CLENs in capacity building, and
- conducting collaborative research among member institutions in our own region, and with colleagues in other regional CLENs, on health problems that are regional and global.

 

We welcome your suggestions for specific agenda items for the CanUSACLEN part of this meeting.
We ask each confirmed attendee to send a 1-pager proposing one topic by December 19^th, and be prepared to lead the discussion on this.
Depending on the numbers, we will ask the Executive to rank order them and then select all/some for prime time and allocate the times.

 

This meeting is a training and research activity of the World Health Organization collaborating

Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity. 

http://www.equity.cochrane.org/en/index.html

Please visit http://www.cgh.uottawa.ca/whocc/index.htm for more information on the Collaborating Centre.
Equity Oriented Tool Kit: http://www.cgh.uottawa.ca/whocc/projects/eo_toolkit/index.htm

 

We would be delighted if you could pass on this invitation to colleagues who may be interested in attending.

 

We have no funding for this meeting.  We hope that you can find your own funding for travel and accommodation.

 

We do hope you can join us - please let us know. Please confirm your participation or direct inquiries to
Patty Thille pthille@uottawa.ca, who will then send you accommodation and other related information.

 

 

Thanks,

Peter

 

 

Peter Tugwell, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FCAHS , Canada Research Chair in Health Equity

Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology - Secretary General, CanUSACLEN

 

 

 *      *      *     *

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMS Area]

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAHO/WHO Website
Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.