Foundations and Future Directions in Preventive Medicine: A Contemporary Framework

This chapter establishes the conceptual and historical foundations of preventive medicine, tracing its evolution from sanitary reform to precision prevention. It critically examines the contemporary frameworks — primordial, primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention — in light of advances in genomics, epidemiology, and systems thinking. The chapter sets the intellectual context for the volume and identifies overarching themes that connect the subsequent chapters.