PREVENTION FIRST

Deaths from preventable diseases have decreased life expectancy in the United States for the first time in a century making it clear that we must deal with the crisis by embracing prevention as our nation s top health sector priority In Prevention First Dr Anand K Parekh chief medical advisor of the Bipartisan Policy Center argues that disease prevention must be our nation s top health policy priority Building a personal culture of prevention he writes is not enough elected officials and policymakers must play a greater role in reducing preventable deaths This second edition includes important new developments in health policy including US responses to and lessons learned from the COVID 19 pandemic and the addition of learning objectives and key takeaways in each chapter to aid students and faculty Drawing on his experiences as a clinician public servant and policy advisor Dr Parekh provides examples of prevention in action from across the country giving readers a view into why prevention first policies are important and how they can be accomplished Throughout the book he demonstrates that in order to optimize health in America we must leverage health insurance programs to promote disease prevention expand primary care attend to the social de