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LETTERS: Richard J Lyus Fundamental problem is not lack of preventive care BMJ 2007; 334: 109-b [Full text]

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Prevention is better than cure

Somasundari Gopalakrishnan   (24 January 2007)

Prevention is better than cure 24 January 2007
Somasundari Gopalakrishnan, Honorary Research Associate, Dept of Public Health and Epidemiology University of Birmingham, B15 2TT Send response to journal: Re: Prevention is better than cure	Preventing the occurrence of diseases is good, but what is better is to cure the incurable. Primary Care is only the beginning. Effective delivery of follow up can only be done by the conjoint efforts of Primary, Specialist and Tertiary care. The author has quoted that Primary care prevents diseases in the healthy and controls the course of common diseases in the chronically sick patients. Though it is not common to deal with uncommon illnesses, the National Health Service needs to be equipped to treat such infrequent cases as well. The importance of Specialist and tertiary care need not be emphasized here. The invaluable services rendered by the specialists cannot be undermined in this context as well. We need to have a harmonious balance between Primary, Specialist and Tertiary services to effectively deliver health care to the sick and needed population. Competing interests: None declared