Definition

1. Noun:

   • Prevention of disease / Disease prevention: The act or practice of taking measures to stop illnesses from occurring or spreading. It is a core principle of public health and personal healthcare.
   • Prophylaxis: A medical term for actions taken to prevent disease, especially specific measures like vaccination or the use of prophylactic drugs.

2. Adjective (Attributive use):

   • Preventive / Prophylactic: Used to describe measures, actions, or medicine aimed at preventing disease. For example, "preventive medicine" or "prophylactic measures."

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Phòng bệnh là ưu tiên hàng đầu của ngành y tế. (Disease prevention is the top priority of the healthcare sector.)
  • Tiêm chủng là một hình thức phòng bệnh hiệu quả. (Vaccination is an effective form of disease prevention.)

• Adjective (Attributive use):

  • Chúng ta cần có các biện pháp phòng bệnh từ sớm. (We need to have preventive measures early on.)
  • Bác sĩ kê đơn thuốc có tác dụng phòng bệnh. (The doctor prescribed medicine with a prophylactic effect.)

Advanced Usage

• "Y học phòng bệnh": Preventive medicine. This is a medical specialty focused on preventing diseases and promoting health.

  • Cô ấy theo đuổi chuyên ngành y học phòng bệnh. (She is pursuing a specialty in preventive medicine.)

• Used in formal public health contexts to describe policies, campaigns, or systems.

  • Chiến dịch phòng bệnh sốt xuất huyết đang được triển khai. (A dengue fever prevention campaign is being implemented.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dự phòng (v/n): To prevent / Prevention. Often used interchangeably with "phòng bệnh" in medical contexts.

  • Các biện pháp dự phòng là rất cần thiết. (Preventive measures are essential.)

• Ngăn ngừa (v): To prevent, to avert. A more general verb for stopping something from happening.

  • Ngăn ngừa dịch bệnh lây lan. (To prevent an epidemic from spreading.)

Synonyms

• Prevention: The act of stopping something from happening.
• Prophylaxis: Specific medical prevention.
• Precaution: A measure taken in advance to prevent harm.

Related Idioms and Proverbs

• "Phòng bệnh hơn chữa bệnh": Literally "Preventing disease is better than curing disease." Equivalent to the English proverb "Prevention is better than cure."
  • Hãy nhớ câu nói 'phòng bệnh hơn chữa bệnh'. (Remember the saying 'prevention is better than cure'.)

adj

1. prophylactic, preventive