The Preventarian Institute will be the world’s first institute dedicated to preventive health to be located in Africa as a scalable model for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) globally.
The Preventarian Institute Complex (PIC) consist of three interconnected components:
- The Preventarian Institute (PI): A training and coordination hub where doctors will be educated in the new discipline of Preventology and oriented to serve at community level. The PI will also include a referral Preventorium for cases beyond the scope of mobile clinics, supported by a core cadre of specialists in surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, ophthalmology, radiology, dentistry, and pathology—specialists devoted not primarily to hospitals, but to communities (to be known as “city consultants”).
- A Groundbreaking Medical School: The first in the world to integrate Preventology as a fifth core clinical rotation, alongside medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics. This will institutionalize prevention as a central pillar of medical training, producing a generation of doctors uniquely equipped to combat the dual burdens of preventable infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCD).
- A Comprehensive Cancer Centre: Cancer will serve as both a natural focal point for prevention and a platform for broader NCD control. As a catastrophic disease, a major public health priority, and a leading cause of death, cancer underscores the urgent need for prevention-focused infrastructure—particularly in developing nations, where there is gross lack of infrastructure for cancer care.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela (The Madiba)
THE GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE HANDS OVER A MOBILE CANCER CENTRE (The PinkCruise) TO THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY ON WEDNESDAY, THE 14TH OF FEBRUARY, 2018
SIGNING OF MOU WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF BUDGET AND NATIONAL PLANNING
Why the World Needs the Preventarian Institute
Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) affirms that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family.” The Preventarian vision stands squarely on this foundation, aligning with the world’s highest health priorities.
In 2012, in furtherance of this fundamental human right, all United Nations (UN) member nations unanimously endorsed Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and 12 December was designated as UHC Day, the annual rallying point for the growing movement for health for all.
At the Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. At the summit, the UN acknowledged that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health. The UN further proclaimed that by 2030 all nations should achieve UHC to ensure access to the full range of quality health services needed by all people, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.
Sadly, despite the UN’s unanimous endorsement of UHC, billions worldwide still lack basic health services, and families face crippling health costs. According to the UN, the world is off track to make significant progress toward UHC by 2030. Improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population facing catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket health spending has increased across all regions of the world. In response, António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, issued a clarion call, stating that “With just five years to reach the SDGs, we need to shift into overdrive.”
To reverse this unacceptable trend, WHO explicitly urges reorienting health systems toward prevention—“the most inclusive, equitable, cost-effective, and efficient approach” to improve health for all. WHO notes that roughly 90% of essential UHC interventions can be delivered via a primary/preventive model, saving over 60 million lives by 2030. WHO further notes that the delivery of these services requires personnel with optimal skills mix at all levels, who are equitably distributed and adequately supported with access to quality-assured products. Sadly, where it exists at all, routine community preventive care is currently manned by low-cadre personnel such as Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs). While more technical preventive procedures such as endoscopy are limited to the tertiary level, carried out by highly qualified specialists who are already overwhelmed with curative care. Preventology and Preventarian Institute will ignite the overdrive to achieve the SDGs and Universal Health Coverage.
The Preventarian Vision
The Preventarian Institute (PI) will put the recommendations of WHO into practice and address the shortage of qualified preventive healthcare manpower. It will provide health workers skilled in preventive care and establish optimal preventive infrastructure.
The Preventarian Institute will embody a new clinical specialty called Preventology. It will make prevention a distinct fifth major specialty alongside the other four majors — medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obgyn. A Preventologist (or “Preventarian”) would be trained to deliver preventive screenings and interventions across all disciplines. For example, a woman seeking a wellness check would see one Preventologist for her mammography, Pap smear, colon screening, glaucoma screening, diabetes check, dental check, and more—in a single, holistic visit.
This is far easier, more time-saving, and convenient for the patient (who needn’t shuffle among a dozen clinics and departments). It will also be enriching for the physician, who, instead of performing only a single repetitive screening, would engage each patient fully, noticing subtle interconnections in health findings, educating the patient about lifestyle choices, and keeping every patient’s care unified. This will address the “blind men and the elephant” silos of traditional care by providing a holistic perspective on individuals’ health. It will enhance the quality of preventive healthcare while simultaneously reducing cost by rationalizing manpower expenses, as a single medical expert would carry out multiple preventive procedures and interventions. Additionally, it will free curative specialists for complex cases, and establish Preventology as a dynamic and exciting, expert field.
At the community level, Preventarians would drive proactive outreach, deploying mobile health clinics, and building on models pioneered by mass medical mission (www.massmedicalmission.org), to bring full preventive care to all. They will be equipped for comprehensive preventive care — cancer, eye and dental checks, cardiovascular and diabetes monitoring, antenatal and pediatric surveillance, skin screening, early interventions and more. These teams will transform public health into a grassroots outreach. Drawing an analogy from faith traditions, just as faith spreads through evangelism, the preventive health movement must become an outreaching mission to multiply impact. This community-focused strategy will amplify every dollar invested, far surpassing curative hospitals alone.
“Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical , and expecting more than others think is possible.” – Mac Anderson
The Business Case
With global health systems facing near-bankruptcy under the ever-rising costs of curative care, this initiative represents a unique opportunity for a “turnaround”. The Preventarian vision aligns not only with WHO and UN imperatives for Universal Health Coverage but also has clear benefits for the global economy. According to the World Economic Forum, “Health inequities currently cost the world “around $42 billion in untapped productivity” (weforum.org/impact/how-zero-health-gaps-will-boost-the-economy-100-companies-agree). The PI would help prevent this considerable waste by improving global access to preventive healthcare.
Widespread availability of quality preventive healthcare also has commercial benefits as it will expand markets for health technologies: Hospitals and diagnostic centers may well be able to afford equipment for mammography, endocopy, colposcopy, e.t.c., but often hold back from purchasing because of the high cost of hiring the multiple personnel required to operate the devices. Since a single Preventologist can operate many devices, the sales of diagnostic equipment, would soar. Likewise, life insurers benefit if people live longer and healthier (paying premiums for more years). In the long run, the entire health industry wins: Nearly everyone will use preventive services, guaranteeing full utilization of health infrastructure rather than only a few needing costly cures. Indeed, prevention is not just far cheaper than late-stage treatment, it creates steady demand for equipment, diagnostics, and funding in a win-win for society and industry.
“We can make a difference by taking action today. We have the opportunity to stem this increase. This report calls on Governments, health practitioners and the general public to take urgent action. Action now can prevent one third of cancers, cure another third, and provide good, palliative care to the remaining third who need it.”
– Dr. Paul Kleihues, Director of the IARC and co-editor of the World Cancer Report 2012
“It’s vital that countries find innovative ways to ensure that essential services for NCDs continue, even as they fight COVID-19. We must be ready to “build back better” ̶ strengthening health services so that they are better equipped to prevent, diagnose and provide care for NCDs in the future, in any circumstances.”
– Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO (2020)
