Prevention Read our response to the government's green paper on prevention, and find out about our wider work on creating healthy lives.

Our response to the government's green paper on prevention

In July 2019 the government published Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s and opened a consultation to gather views on the proposals.

Changing the conversation: beyond prevention

A healthier population cannot be achieved by focusing solely on the treatment of illness.

The strongest determinants of health are the social, economic, commercial and environmental conditions in which people live. Unless these wider determinants of health are invested in, major improvements in health and reductions in health inequalities will not be possible.

We're working to bring about this change and make the case for a whole-government approach to improving the health of the population.

The role of the NHS in prevention

Health care services also have a role to play in improving health through an increased focus on prevention, health inequalities and tackling the social determinants of health.

We are exploring how NHS staff, organisations and health and care systems can have a broader influence on health and wellbeing. We want to identify the key enablers and barriers to a more preventative health care service that reduces health inequalities and partners with others to tackle the social determinants of health.