Prevention Matters

The recommendation that prevention be a priority in the administration’s Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) efforts was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while reports of “swine flu parties” being held in the UK was named the "Worst Prevention Idea of the week."

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters, the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.

Prevention was named a priority area by a federal panel in its recommendations as to how the Secretary of Health and Human Services should spend $400 million in stimulus-bill funding for comparative effectiveness research. "Many effective interventions for improving health are likely to involve prevention and community intervention, but these areas are currently understudied," the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) concluded.

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'Swine flu parties' reported in UK

British doctors cite reports of people intentionally mixing with friends who have flu. Their reasoning is that it is best to be infected before the winter when the virus could become more deadly. But public health expert Dr Richard Jarvis said such behavior could undermine the fight against swine flu. He also stressed while it was a mild flu, people would still be putting their health and the health of their children at risk.