Preventive Care

In the UK, screening programmes are recommended by the independent UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) and delivered by the four national health services. Immunisation policy is set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and operationalised through UKHSA's Green Book.^{[2]UK NSC[3]UKHSA}

The UK routine childhood schedule protects against 16 diseases by adolescence — including meningococcal B, pneumococcus, rotavirus, MMR and HPV — and adult programmes cover seasonal flu, COVID-19, shingles, pneumococcal disease and RSV in eligible groups. The definitive UK reference is UKHSA's Green Book, updated chapter by chapter.^{[3]UKHSA Green Book}

England's HPV vaccination programme, combined with cervical screening, is the basis for the NHS England ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.^[6]CRUK

The British Heart Foundation estimates around 1 in 3 UK adults has high blood pressure (NICE diagnostic threshold ≥ 140/90 mm Hg in clinic, confirmed by ambulatory or home monitoring), and roughly half are not adequately controlled. Cardiovascular disease still accounts for around a quarter of UK deaths.^[4]BHF

NICE NG136 recommends lifestyle modification (DASH-style diet, weight loss, sodium reduction, physical activity, reduced alcohol) for all, with antihypertensive treatment offered to those with persistent stage 1 hypertension and elevated CVD risk, and to everyone with stage 2 hypertension.^{[7]NICE NG136}

In England, adults aged 40–74 without an existing relevant condition are invited every five years for a free NHS Health Check, designed to identify and manage early cardiovascular risk — blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, diabetes risk, alcohol use and smoking — before disease develops.^{[5]NHS Health Check}

• Bowel cancer screening — home faecal immunochemical test (FIT) every 2 years, currently ages 54–74 (rolling extension down to 50) in England, 50–74 in Scotland and Wales.^[6]CRUK
• Breast cancer screening — mammography every 3 years for women aged 50–70 (with self-referral up to 71+).^[1]NHS
• Cervical cancer screening — HPV primary testing every 3 years for women aged 25–49 and every 5 years for ages 50–64.^[1]NHS

NHS England is rolling out a targeted lung cancer screening programme with low-dose CT for ever-smokers aged 55–74, following UK NSC recommendation.^{[2]UK NSC}

The UK NSC explicitly recommends against several widely promoted screens — including routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for men with no symptoms, because evidence shows the harms outweigh the benefits at population level. It also advises against routine whole-body MRI and most vitamin/mineral supplementation for healthy adults.^{[2]UK NSC}