Ehkäisevää

Ehkäisevä is a Finnish adjective meaning "preventive" or "intended to prevent harm." It is formed from the verb ehkäistä (to prevent) with the attributive suffix -vä, and it describes actions, measures, or policies designed to prevent something undesirable from occurring. The related noun forms are ehkäisy (prevention) and ennaltaehkäisy (preemption or preventive action carried out in advance).

In practice, ehkäisevä is widely used across public health, safety, law enforcement, and social policy to characterize proactive efforts. Common collocations include ehkäisevä toimenpide (preventive measure), ehkäisevä hoito or ehkäisevä lääketiede (preventive care or medicine), and ehkäisevä päihdetyö (prevention work in substance abuse). It denotes actions taken before problems arise, rather than responses after the fact.

Finnish usage distinguishes preventive concepts from reactive ones, and ennaltaehkäisy is often used in formal or policy contexts to emphasize prevention happening before risks materialize.