An option of longstanding interest is prevention—interventions that prevent or delay the occurrence of the very diseases that drive these costs. There are three kinds of prevention. Primary prevention can be accomplished by modifying unhealthy behaviors (., smoking, physical inactivity), which cause many diseases and account for 38% of all deaths in the United States, 6 administering immunizations to prevent infectious diseases, and reducing exposure to harmful environmental factors. Secondary prevention can reduce the severity of diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, through screening programs that detect the diseases or their risk factors at early stages, before they.
