The three levels of prevention are primary, secondary and tertiary. In primary prevention, a disorder is prevented from developing. Vaccines, counseling to change high-risk behaviors, and sometimes chemoprevention are types of primary prevention. Prevention, as far as health is concerned, is to avoid the disease before it starts.
It has been defined as the plans and measures taken to prevent the occurrence of a disease or other health problem before the undesirable health event occurs. There are three different levels of prevention. Re-read the list of the three levels of prevention. Think about your experience in health education, whether as an educator or as a recipient of health education.
Since these are population-level programmes, primary prevention is conceptually linked to population health and health promotion, but physicians can play a role in drawing public attention to problems and advocating for action on determinants. Health education can be applied at all three levels of disease prevention and can go a long way in maximizing the benefits of preventive behavior.
