Identifiers
The Prevention of Lifestyle-Related Chronic Diseases
This paper provides an economic perspective on the prevention of chronic diseases, focusing in
particular on diseases linked to lifestyle choices. The proposed economic framework is centred on the
hypothesis that the prevention of chronic diseases may provide the means for increasing social welfare,
enhancing health equity, or both, relative to a situation in which chronic diseases are simply treated once
they emerge. Testing this hypothesis requires the completion of several conceptual and methodological
steps. The pathways through which chronic diseases are generated must be identified as well as the levers
that could modify those pathways. Justification for action must be sought by examining whether the
determinants of chronic diseases are simply the outcome of efficient market dynamics, or the effect of
market and rationality failures preventing individuals from achieving the best possible outcomes. Where
failures exist, possible preventive interventions must be conceived, whose expected impact on indi...
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