Prevention & Treatment of Disease (SL IB Geography)

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Healthcare systems differ across the world
- Some countries focus on prevention, whilst others focus on treatment
Preventative Healthcare involves preventing the disease from manifesting or spreading
- General avoidance of disease contraction and spread
- Quick detection of diseases to improve recovery
- Anticipating disease to stop further development
- Examples include yearly flu jabs or cancer screenings
The advantages of preventative healthcare include:
- It helps to spot or diagnose some diseases early e.g. cervical cancer screening
  - This can lead to recovery as diseases haven't progressed
- It can be cheap and easy to distribute e.g. education and health campaigns
- It stops the spread of disease before it becomes dangerous
Curative Healthcare involves the treatment of a disease post-infection
- Very effective with the correct resources e.g. hospitals and medical staff
- Examples include antibiotics or chemotherapy
- Curative healthcare is more common globally
The advantages of curative healthcare include:
- Entirely getting rid of a disease or illness instead of just reducing the severity
- Supports recovery from a disease
Primary healthcare combines both prevention and treatment strategies

Immigrants may not be able to register themselves with healthcare providers easily
Poorer people are typically more at risk of Diseases of Poverty

Governments could improve by ensuring their focus and priority is on the provision of preventative healthcare for people who need it most

During endemics or pandemics, governments must minimise disease spread and develop preventative or curative treatments
In many cases, the cost of health strategies can influence government choices

Some treatment options are significantly more expensive than preventative measures

If the effects of the disease are not concerning, cheaper prevention methods may be adopted
E.g. there are all sorts of flu strains that come around each year
The UK offers regular preventative flu jabs for free or at a low price

The means of infection can affect whether preventative or curative strategies are chosen
Communicable diseases are contagious diseases, therefore prevention is vital

With curative treatment, millions of people will contract the disease and be at risk of serious health issues or even death, before a cure is found

Non-communicable diseases may also benefit from preventative measures e.g. improving diets can reduce the risk of heart disease or high blood pressure

However, in much of the developing world, curative strategies already exist for many non-communicable diseases

If a new/unknown disease appeared, curative measures would be the only real option
If a disease spreads very quickly, then it would be too late for preventative measures
Some diseases in high quantities would need primary healthcare e.g. malaria
Prevention of disease could waste money e.g. screenings without disease discovery

Money could be funnelled into better curative medicine for people already suffering

Without scientific intervention, many prevention and treatment options wouldn’t be available
Science has contributed to the creation of:

Scientific intervention and advice are vital for deciding which healthcare approach to adopt

Scientific intervention may guide government policies on global approaches e.g. to pandemics
Scientific bodies associated with charities and other non-governmental organisations may put pressure on governments to follow a particular strategy

Countries with more investment in scientific and healthcare sectors will be able to provide more curative and preventative treatment

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