The increasing focus on the prevention of disease reflects the epidemiological shift from infectious disease to chronic disease.  Focuing on disease prevention and health enhancement is recognised as a National Research Priority.  With chronic disease increasing at an alarming rate, research on effective prevention strategies needs to be complemented by research on a prevention policy that will have implications beyond the health sector.  Important research questions include:

Examples of important research questions include:

 How can population health programs work in concert with secondary and tertiary prevention?
 Can prevention programs and health care be effectively planned and governed from within the 
same organisational framework?
 At what scale do these programs need to operate to achieve population-level impact?
 What is the infrastructure and capacity needed at the local level to tackle health inequalities 
in a realistic and serious manner?

Related events
Roundtable held in 2006: Purchasing prevention: Making every cent count (August 2006, Melbourne)