Primordial prevention
by Sorin Ursoniu, MD, PhD
Why is primordial
prevention important?
Learning &
Performance
Objectives
Prevention
Disease prevention includes
measures not only to prevent the
occurrence of disease, such as
risk factor reduction, but also to
arrest its progress and reduce its
consequences once established.
Levels of prevention (I)
Levels of Phase of
prevention disease
Primordial Underlying
conditions
leading to
causation
Primary
Specific
causal
factors
Target
Total population
and selected
groups
Total
population,
selected groups
and healthy
individuals
Levels of prevention (II)
Levels of Phase of disease Target
prevention
Secondary Early stage of
Patients
disease
Tertiary
Late stage of
Patients
disease (treatment,
rehabilitation)
Definition
Primordial prevention is defined
as prevention of risk factors
themselves, beginning with
change in social and
environmental conditions in
which these factors are observed
to develop, and continuing for
high risk children, adolescents
and young adults.
Primordial prevention, a
relatively new concept, is
receiving special attention in the
prevention of chronic diseases.
For example, many adult health
problems (e.g. obesity,
hypertension) have their early
origins in childhood, because
this is the time when lifestyles
are formed.
General access to energydense diets coupled with
typically sedentary urban
lifestyles creates a trend toward
obesity and chronic disease.
It is important to change the milieu
that promotes major risk factor
development. Primordial
prevention calls for changing the
socio-economic status of society.
A better socio-economic status
correlates inversely with lifestyle
factors like smoking, abnormal
food patterns and exercise.
Primordial prevention begins in
childhood when health risk
behaviour begins. Parents,
teachers and peer groups are
important in imparting health
education to children.
Cost-effectiveness of
primordial prevention
The cost of prevention:
can we afford it?
can we afford not to do it?
Examples of primordial
prevention actions (I):
National policies and
programmes on nutrition
involving the agricultural
sector, the food industry, and
the food import-export sector
Examples of primordial
prevention actions (II):
Comprehensive policies to
discourage smoking
Examples of primordial
prevention actions (III):
Programmes to promote regular
physical activity
Responsibilities for
primordial prevention:
Government
Professional and nongovernmental organisations
Industry
Hospitals, health clinics, health
practitioners and health-care
workers
Making major changes in
lifestyle (I)
Making major changes in
lifestyle (II)
Perspectives: