Topic

Public health and prevention policy

Public health and prevention policy covers measures that act on a whole population to stop ill health before it needs treatment, such as vaccination programmes and alcohol policy. Their economics turns on externalities, long time horizons and who pays for benefits that accrue to others.

Concepts in this topic

• Alcohol PolicyAlcohol policy is the set of public measures, such as alcohol taxes, minimum unit prices and limits on sales and marketing, used to reduce alcohol harm.
• Vaccination PolicyGovernment policy governing which vaccines are included in a national immunisation schedule and how programmes will be funded and administered.