Prevention

It is globally acknowledged that prevention is better than cure and yet most health systems spend less than 1% of their budgets on preventative approaches. A preventative approach can help reduce healthcare costs, improve patient outcomes, and decrease the burden on healthcare systems.

Header banner with purple background, bold title 'Prevention works, so why don't we pay for it?', lime arrow graphic on the left, and two circular headshots with names and titles (Gundo Weiler and Graham Cookson) below, plus the 'A DOSE OF ECONOMICS' logo in the bottom right; conveys an article/podcast introduction about prevention economics and the speakers.
Podcast

Prevention works, so why don’t we pay for it?

30 June 2026

Grace Hampson is joined by Gundo Weiler, Director of Prevention and Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, and Graham Cookson,…

Colorful metal heart sculpture with red, orange, yellow, and blue rings in a tree-lined park on a paved plaza.
Insights

The cost of inaction on LDL cholesterol

24 June 2026

This Insight is based on the WHA79 panel discussion “Lowering Cholesterol, Increasing Impact: The Case for Earlier Action to Address the CV Epidemic”, co-organised by OHE and MSD, at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, May 2026.

Young plant growing on a stack of coins in soil, symbolizing investing and growth.
Publication

Addressing the systemic challenges of underinvestment in prevention

8 June 2026

Prevention of ill-health is an underexploited tool for protecting health systems and societies. It offers the potential to curb increasing demand for healthcare services, increase participation…

Watercolor and acrylic hearts isolated on a white background
Publication

The burden of LDL-cholesterol-driven atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases

31 March 2026

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, and is responsible for substantial health and economic burden to health systems and wider society.

Insights

Turning around the NHS: Reflections on the 2025 OHE Annual Lecture

14 October 2025

In this year’s Annual Lecture, Prof Anita Charlesworth takes a closer look at the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, concluding that all is not lost for the NHS, but questions of coherence, capacity, and capability remain.

Yayoi Kusama's infinity mirror rooms at the Tate gallery
News

New OHE model estimates COVID-19 could be associated with costs of £7 billion a year in the UK, without annual autumn vaccinations   

13 October 2025

A newly released report commissioned by Moderna modelled a one-year scenario without annual COVID-19 autumn vaccinations.

Insights

Prevention in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan: Promise, limits, and the path forward

17 September 2025

This is the first in a series of blogs about how the proposals in the newly published 10 Year Plan measure up against some of the most pressing health concerns in the UK.

Insights

Climate action is health action: OHE’s focus on sustainability

22 July 2025

At the intersection of health and the climate is an urgent crisis. This crisis affects health in ways that are wide-ranging, unevenly distributed, and difficult to isolate. It poses deep challenges not only for service delivery but for how we define value, whose preferences we measure, and how we account for intergenerational and regional equity.

Event

OHE Annual Lecture 2025 | Ten years to turn it around: The economic reality of NHS reform

9 July 2025

With the new NHS 10-Year Plan now published, attention turns from ambition to action. How realistic is the roadmap? What will it take to deliver meaningful…