The goals of prevention are rooted in disability and death due to chronic disease; expensive end-stage interventions for a small slice of the population; and proven cost-effective preventive measures that benefit most of the population.

The major goals of prevention are to:

1.  Reduce the burden of suffering for the major preventable diseases.

2.  Control expenditures by reducing the need for intensive management of late-stage illness.

These goals extend to individuals, their families, communities, and the whole population (Sloane, 2008).