Which statement describes primary prevention?

• A. Primary prevention aims to prevent an illness or injury from occurring by preventing exposure to risk factors.
• B. Secondary prevention aims to prevent exposure to risk factors.
• C. Tertiary prevention focuses on preventing disease in the first place.
• D. Quaternary prevention involves preventing unnecessary medical care.

Answer: (A)

Primary prevention aims to stop illness or injury from occurring by reducing or removing exposure to risk factors in healthy individuals. This is why immunizations, health education to promote protective behaviors, and policies or environmental changes that lower risk fit this idea. By tackling the factors that could lead to disease before any disease is present, this approach tries to keep people healthy from the start.

The other ideas describe different strategies: detecting disease early to prevent its progression (secondary prevention), reducing damage or disability once a disease is present (tertiary prevention), and avoiding unnecessary or harmful medical interventions to prevent overuse of care (quaternary prevention).