Letters
Goals in preventing disease
Terms for prevention: elimination, eradication, containment, and control
BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6156 (Published 28 October 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l6156
- Norman Noah, professor emeritus of infectious disease epidemiology
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
- norman.noah{at}lshtm.ac.uk
Considerable confusion exists over the terms used for the goals of prevention.1 To eradicate (or is it eliminate?) further confusion I propose the following definitions, which might apply to only one country or continent at any time.
Control: When prevention is in progress but not yet fully successful. We …
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