From population health to personalization: why prevention needs a rethink

Abstract Over the past decades, prevention has contributed significantly to improving population health, with major successes achieved through collective efforts and universal strategies. However, the world has changed and so have the challenges. Chronic conditions now dominate the health landscape, influenced by complex combinations of biological, behavioral, environmental, and social factors. In this context, prevention faces a growing tension: how to remain effective while becoming more responsive to individual and local diversity. There is a growing need to adapt prevention to better reflect real-life complexity: not everyone is at the same risk, not everyone benefits equally from the same measures, and not all interventions are equally feasible everywhere. Advances in genomics and other data-driven approaches are expanding the possibilities for more precise risk assessment and tailored interventions, opening new frontiers for targeted, anticipatory strategies in prevention. Personalization in prevention means embracing flexible strategies that can adapt to people's lives, values, and vulnerabilities. This doesn't imply abandoning population health principles, but rather enriching them with a more nuanced, equity-oriented, and person-centered mindset. This presentation opens a space to reflect on what it means to personalize prevention in public health: what we gain, what we risk, and how we can design systems that are both inclusive and adaptive. Rethinking prevention is not only a technical challenge, it is a cultural and ethical one.