ABSTRACT
Measures for prevention and control can be categorized into those that have an impact at the population level and those that have an impact at the individual level. Population-wide interventions aim at controlling the determinants of NCD incidence in the whole population and they usually require action in multiple sectors beyond the health sector. In contrast, high-risk interventions aim at identifying susceptible high-risk individuals and offering them individual protection, and they mainly engage action at the health care level and require a well-functioning health system. The chapter describes differences in characteristics of each strategy in terms of mechanisms, impact, sectors involved, uptake of interventions, levels of cooperation required by the individuals, acceptability, cost for society, payer and accountability. The chapter also describes a number of related issues (e.g. importance of interventions that require minimal action from the individuals, benefits beyond health, approaches based on total risk vs single risk factors and total risk scores) and displays examples of population and high-risk strategies for the prevention and control of NCDs.
