Public health, prevention rather than cure

In 2019, prevention accounted for just 2 % of total healthcare expenditure in France. This weakness is not inevitable: in the same year, our British neighbors devoted 5 % of their healthcare expenditure to prevention. And by 2021, in France, tests and vaccines to combat Covid-19 have boosted prevention spending to 5.5 %. The pandemic also served as a reminder that effective access to preventive care reveals major social inequalities. And yet, the healthcare system, which is essentially curative, struggles to reach the most socially or culturally remote populations. And yet, from local authorities to schools, from community pharmacies to community health centers, many players are involved in preventive initiatives at grassroots level. How can we unleash these energies? How can we restore people’s confidence in these initiatives? How can we develop disease risk reduction at all levels, upstream of curative care?