Answer:
Yes, the focus should change to a disease prevention and health promotion plan.
Explanation:
The curative focus of the U.S healthcare system is an outlook that places more emphasis on the development of drugs and other treatment plans in the event of an ailment. This is not a proactive measure to counter health issues. It is rather reactive. The health promotion and disease prevention method focuses on countering and proactively dealing with situations that could lead to diseases. This is a better way of dealing with diseases for the following reasons;
1. It prevents the harmful side effects of drugs. A health-based plan that focuses on healthy ways of living like proper exercise and healthy eating would promote better health, and prevent the outbreak of diseases that would lead to the consumption of drugs with harmful side effects.
2. It saves cost. Evidence has shown that prevention is better than cure in terms of saving costs. Money that would have been spent on hospital bills and drugs are saved when healthy ways of living are observed. An example of this effect is the YMCA Diabetes Prevention program where people who are prone to diabetes are placed on a healthy lifestyle for a year. The result is that the likelihood of these participants suffering from type-2 diabetes is drastically reduced. This saves the cost that would have been involved in taking care of this disease.
3. It increases lifespan. The chances of people who stick to healthy ways of living rather than always subjecting themselves to drugs and other curative measures with their associated side effects are quite long.
For the above-stated reasons, it is imperative that the focus in the U.S health care system should change to the health promotion and disease prevention plan.
