Primary prevention aims to ...

• A. Detect disease early in high-risk groups
• B. Treat established disease to reduce disability
• C. Prevent or cessation of risk factor exposure
• D. Monitor health service delivery

Answer: (C)

Primary prevention targets disease before it occurs by removing or reducing exposure to risk factors. This is why preventing or stopping risk-factor exposure is the best choice: it aims to stop the disease process before any clinical illness develops, rather than finding disease early or treating it after it appears.

Think of vaccines that prevent infection, programs that help people quit smoking, and policies that reduce salt, promote physical activity, or encourage safe sex. These actions cut the chance that disease will occur in the first place.

In contrast, detecting disease early in high-risk groups is about screening, which identifies illness that has already started but may not yet be symptomatic—this is secondary prevention. Treating established disease to reduce disability focuses on managing disease after it has begun, which is tertiary prevention aimed at reducing complications or progression. Monitoring health service delivery is about assessing how well health systems work, not about preventing disease itself.