New Opportunities in the Changing Landscape of Prevention

Abstract

The focus of medical research has historically been on curative medicine, yielding better drugs, medical devices, and clinical procedures. Prevention science— the systematic application of scientific methods to the causes and prevention of diseases in populations—has yet to receive the necessary investment and support required to reduce the growing burden of largely pre-ventable noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).1 Human and Economic Burdens of Disease Recent assessments of the burden of risk and disease found thatmorbidity and chronic disability account for nearly half of the US health burden.2 Despite the larg-estper capitahealthexpenditureof all industrializedna-tions, the United States has fallen behind peer coun-tries in terms of improvements in population health.3