How do we calculate on primary prevention?

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Prevention as an investment. Is it time to view health as an investment rather than an expense?

Denmark is getting a new Public Health Act designed to strengthen prevention. But when we set priorities in the healthcare system today, it is often treatment that takes precedence – not because prevention is less important, but because its effects are harder to see in the short term. This raises a crucial question: How do we actually decide what to invest in when it comes to health? And do we have the right tools when deciding whether to spend money on more hospital beds – or on early intervention, well-being and healthy environments in everyday life? In this debate, we discuss how Denmark can improve its prioritisation and investment in prevention. How can we make wiser decisions about where interventions are most beneficial – for people, for the healthcare system and for society? And has the time come to view prevention as an investment in more years of good health rather than as a budget expense?

Participants

  • Dorte Gyrd-Hansen, Professor of Health Economics, University of Southern Denmark (moderator)
  • Anders G. Christensen, Chair of the Central Denmark Region, Member of the Board of Danish Regions
  • Nikolai B. Nordsborg, Head of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen
  • Flemming Konradsen, Chief Scientific Officer, Health, Novo Nordisk Foundation
  • Charlotte Bach Thomassen, Chair, DGI

Organisers

  • Novo Nordisk Foundation
  • University of Copenhagen

The event is in Danish only. Read more here