Why prevention is key for improving Scotland's health

This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 10th June 2026

Prevention is now a key feature of Scottish public health policy. We often think about prevention as identifying and tackling root causes before negative outcomes occur - taking action on the building blocks of health.

For health inequalities, that means dealing with the underlying causes that mean some communities experiencing an unfair shortening of their lives and less time in good health.

Last year, CHEX, in partnership with other community sector intermediaries and organisations, came together to issue a joint statement on the role prevention plays in tackling Scotland’s growing health inequalities crisis.

We called for a clear definition and understanding of what prevention means, a properly resourced third sector that is part of a whole-system approach, and increased urgency in how we tackle the ‘hard-to-do’ parts of policy implementation.

Newly published evidence shows the positive impact that community-led organisations can have on health and wellbeing - organisations which have preventative approaches at their core.

Supporting these practical and sustainable solutions to this ‘implementation gap’ is essential if we are to translate policy into action that meaningfully improves people’s lives and addresses the issues that they face every day.