The Politics of Prevention

Authors of a study in The New England Journal of Medicine argue that not all prevention programs save money. The article asks the authors to take on McCain's and Obama's disease management plans. Suggest targeting high-risk population to get the most value. One main think to point out here is that they are talking about preventing virtually all types of diseases, including ones which are rare in the population and result in quick deaths. The fight against chronic disease is not inconsistent with this in that the mission is to tackle diseases that deteriorate quality of life and cost the society more to treat than it is to prevent. The two leading factors that need to in this category is smoking and obesity. While the fight against smoking seems to have reached a tipping point with the banning of smoking in public places in some states, the fight against obesity is just not at the same level yet. There is a struggle in how we view the issue of obesity, with one side pushing for its acceptance in society while ignoring the resultant cost to our health care system, the environment, and our competitive edge in the globalized market system.

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