Jérôme Salomon, Chief Medical and Science Officer at Zoī, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The World Health Organization/the greatest demonstration that prevention in health saves more lives than curative medicine.
Geneva, 7 April 1948. In the aftermath of the war, 61 nations founded the World Health Organization. Mission: to make health a right, and prevention a policy.
The track record, in a few numbers:
- Smallpox, eradicated in 1980. The first and only transmissible infectious human disease CDs ever eliminated through collective action. 300 million deaths prevented in the 20th century. Total cost of the campaign: less than what the disease was costing every single year.
- Childhood immunization. In 1974, fewer than 5% of children in low-income countries LMICs were vaccinated. Today, more than 84% are. Between 3.5 and 5 million lives saved every year by the Expanded Programme on Immunization alone.
- Tobacco Control (Framework Convention, 2003). The first international public health treaty. 183 States Parties. Global smoking prevalence dropped from 33% in 2000 to 20% in 2025, meaning hundreds of millions of cancers, strokes and heart attacks prevented.
- Cervical cancer. Elimination strategy launched in 2020 (90% HPV vaccination, 70% screening, 90% treatment). The first cancer ever on track to be eliminated in history!
- Noncommunicable diseases NCDs. The WHO has documented, supported by the IARC – International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization, that 74% of global deaths are now caused by preventable risk factors: tobacco, alcohol, diet, physical inactivity, air pollution.
The result shows up in a single data point: global life expectancy rose from 46 years in 1950 to 73 today. +27 years in three generations.
The lesson is clear: every dollar invested in prevention returns between 7 and 14 dollars in avoided care.
Vaccinate, screen, regulate, measure, explain and prevent, this is the most cost effective medicine ever invented: preventive medicine.”
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