preventable

Preventable is an adjective used to describe events, conditions, or outcomes that could be avoided through timely and appropriate actions. In public discourse, the term often appears as preventable deaths or preventable injuries, signaling that with different choices, policies, or care, the outcome might have been different. The concept overlaps with avoidable and is sometimes distinguished in specific fields as preventable versus unpreventable or inevitable.

In public health and medicine, preventable deaths are those that could be avoided through prevention, vaccination, early diagnosis, effective treatment, or safer environments. Examples include deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases, deaths due to avoidable injuries such as motor vehicle crashes with seat belts, and deaths due to treatable conditions when care is timely and accessible. The assessment of preventability depends on data about risk factors, resources, and the effectiveness of interventions, and may vary across countries and populations. Preventable outcomes often reflect social determinants of health, such as poverty and access to care.

Limitations and debates surround the label. It relies on current knowledge and available interventions, which change over time. Some authors distinguish preventable from amenable to health care; others use avoidable more broadly. In safety engineering and occupational health, preventable often refers to incidents that could have been prevented with proper training, equipment, or hazard control. Metrics such as avoidable mortality and years of potential life lost are used to monitor preventability at the population level.