Historical medical records as early as 2500 BC referred to the practice of Prevention. References to the importance of prevention are found in the writings of Hippocrates, thus rendering the prevention concept important and certainly not new in the practice of medicine.

The continuously changing patterns of mortality and morbidity over time indicate that major causes of disease are preventable. Other evidence comes from the geographical variation in disease occurrence within and between countries, and from the observation that migrants slowly develop the patterns of disease of host populations.

Disease prevention is considered to be action which usually emanates from the health sector, dealing with individuals and populations exhibiting identifiable risk factors, often associated with different risk behaviours.