The Compelling Case for Better Screening and Secondary Prevention in Europe

We would like to share an insight report from our friends "Health First Europe" who tried to explore compelling cases for better screening and secondary prevention in Europe. In this report, you can learn lessons from five representative diseases.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the value of screening and secondary prevention in general for improving patient safety, the quality of care in healthcare settings and quality of life across Europe. Regular exams and screening tests can detect disease in its earliest stages, dramatically increasing the likelihood of preventing the worst impacts of diseases and restoring patients’ health and well-being to their previous state. Increased screening and secondary prevention can also substantially reduce the cost of public health services over the long term.

Europe has many national success stories that could be better shared and implemented across borders. This Insight Report showcases concrete examples and solutions for implementing national screening programmes which have been successful in improving outcomes for patients and society in five representative disease areas: breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, healthcare-associated infections, heart failure, and new-born and severe combined immune deficiency (SCID).