Is prevention better than cure? An empirical investigation for the case of Avian Influenza

The new EU Animal Health Strategy suggests ashift in emphasis away from control towards preventionand surveillance activities for the management of threatsto animal health. The optimal combination of theseactions will differ among diseases and depend on largelyunknown and uncertain costs and benefits. This paperreports an empirical investigation of this issue for thecase of Avian Influenza. The results suggest that theoptimal combination of actions will be dependent on theobjective of the decision maker and that conflict existsbetween an optimal strategy which minimises costs tothe government and one which maximises producerprofits or minimises negative effects on human health.From the perspective of minimising the effects onhuman health, prevention appears preferable to curebut the case is less clear for other objectives.