8.X.1. PechaKucha: Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Rethinking Prevention for the 21st Century
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Prevention remains a cornerstone of public health, aiming to reduce the burden of disease and improve health outcomes through comprehensive primary and secondary strategies. Traditional approaches have largely relied on standardized, population-wide interventions, including public health campaigns, EU-driven policies on alcohol consumption, smoking cessation, dietary guidelines, and large-scale vaccination programs. While these strategies have proven effective at the population level, they often fail to account for individual variability in risk, behavior, and responsiveness. Personalized prevention seeks to bridge this gap through more nuanced and tailored approaches, ranging from broad risk stratification based on lifestyle and environmental factors to targeted interventions informed by advanced genetic insights. These models offer the potential to strengthen primary prevention and reduce health inequalities by addressing modifiable risk factors in ways that are more responsive to individual and community needs. Importantly, prevention is not a one-size-fits-all approach and its success is deeply influenced by the specific context in which it is delivered. The structural, social, and cultural environment has a significant impact on both the feasibility and the impact of preventive interventions, particularly in underserved or marginalized communities. European initiatives aim to address key modifiable risk factors for non-communicable diseases by identifying barriers to policy implementation and improving individual adherence to healthy behaviors. These multi-level approaches aim to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities across Europe. Genomic tools are further expanding the possibilities for personalized prevention. Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS), for example, enable targeted lifestyle and clinical interventions based on genetic predisposition. In addition, the integration of DNA-based screening, such as newborn, prenatal, and personalized cancer screening, is demonstrating the potential for early risk detection and tailored preventive interventions. However, evidence on the long-term efficacy, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness of these tools in real-world settings remains limited and requires further investigation. Moreover, their use raises important ethical and legal considerations, particularly concerning data protection, informed consent, and equitable access. This workshop will explore the benefits, challenges, and real-world applications of transitioning from traditional to personalized, multi-level prevention strategies, providing a strategic overview of the shift toward personalization, a participatory case study on rural cancer prevention, a genomic approach to cardiovascular risk using PRS, and a forward-looking perspective on the role of DNA-based screening in future public health models. Key messages • Genomic and multi-level strategies can reduce health inequalities and improve preventive care. • Personalized prevention enhances public health by addressing individual and contextual risk factors.
Authors: Organised by: EUPHA Public Health Epidemiology section, EUPHA Migrant and Ethnic Minority Health section, EUPHA Ethics in Public Health section, Chair persons: Roberta Pastorino (EUPHA-PHG), Péter Pikó (EUPHA-PHG)
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,181
OpenAlex ID: W7101428764
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