DISEASE PREVENTION

Preventive medicine is a pivotal discipline in public health, which has been defined as "the science and art of preventing disease, promoting health, and prolonging life through organized efforts of society" (Committee of Inquiry into the Future Development of the Public Health Function, 1988: 1). Its historical roots are buried deep into classical Greek mythology, which already made a distinction between treatment and prevention. In the past century, the foremost gains in health have been made by actions which can be termed prevention. With the lead causative factors for disease changing at this point in time, prevention remains the constant variable. As Geoffrey Rose (1992) commented, ''the scale and pattern of disease reflect the way that people live and their social, economic and environmental circumstances, and all of these can change quickly.