Prevention Strategies: Levels of Prevention

Prevention includes the actions required to eradicate, eliminate or minimizing the impact of diseases. The various countries are using this strategy to control the prevalence of many major diseases throughout.There are different levels of prevention. 

Levels of Prevention

Primordial Prevention

A level of prevention that is applied before the emergence of risk factors. It is achieved by providing health education. For Instance- 

• Do not start smoking.
• Prevention of childhood obesity by teaching children good eating habits.
• Making bikeways to avoid road traffic accidents.

Also Read: Family Planning/Contraception Methods

Primary Prevention

At this level of prevention, the risk factor is already present in the society but the disease has not started. Health promotion is an important term which comes under primary prevention. This strategy is followed by many countries and it enables people to lead a healthy lifestyle. Health education is very important for implementation of this strategy.

• Ottawa Chapter ( November 1986)
• Concept of Health Promotion was adopted in a conference held in Ottawa in Canada in November , 1986.
• Jakarta Declaration
• It happened in July, 1997 and conveyed the concept of health promotion.

Health promotion includes:

• Health education
• Environmental modification
• Nutritional intervention
• Lifestyle and behavioural changes

Examples of Primary Prevention are:

• Providing safe water
• Providing sanitary latrines
• Controlling Insects and Rodents
• Promoting Breastfeeding
• Promoting small family norms
• Improvement in overall socioeconomic status of population.
• Use of helmets and seat belts to protect against head injuries.
• Chemoprophylaxis
• Vitamin A prophylaxis

Also Read: National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP)

Secondary Prevention:

It is the mode of intervention in which the strategy is to diagnosing the disease early and starting the treatment. Here the disease has started but there are no complications. The examples of Secondary Treatment are:

• Active search for Malaria cases.
• School health examination and Health camps
• PAP smear
• MDT for leprosy
• DOTS for Tuberculosis
• Self breast examination
• In industries, The Post placement examination is done on yearly basis to see whether the workers has developed the disease or not.

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Tertiary Prevention

• The disease has progressed to a stage of irreversibility, complications are present. Now the strategy is to limit further damage and this is achieved by disability limitations and Rehabilitation. The concept of Disability includes:
  • Disease- a person that suffers from an accident and lose his leg.
  • Impairment- Loss or abnormality of physiological or psychological structure
  • Disability - It is the restriction or inability to perform an activity. 
  • Handicapped- It is the person that cannot fulfill his roles and responsibilities.

Rehabilitations

It is the combined and coordinated use of medical , social , educational and vocational measures for training and retaining the individuals to the highest possible level of functionality. For example- Crutches for Polio and Blind schools.

Types of Rehabilitation

• Restoration of function
• Restoration of capacity to earn a livelihood
• Restoration of family and social relationship
• Restoration of personal dignity and confidence.

Social Integration

It is the tertiary level of prevention and is a form of rehabilitation. It includes :

• Reconstructive surgery
• School for blind
• Crutches for polio patient
• Providing hearing aids.

Also Read: Epidemiology: Ideas, Models, Definitions, Morality, Morbidity Rate, Analytical and Descriptive

Quaternary prevention

It is the set of health activities to mitigate or avoid the consequences of unnecessary or excessive intervention of the health system. It identifies the patients at risk of overmedication.

Also Read: Asha: Accessibility, Functions, Obligations, Compensation, Benefits And Facilitators of Asha

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