We’re all familiar with the old adage prevention is better than cure, but as the pressures on our NHS increase, never has the saying been more relevant.

Over half a century after the NHS was created, the picture of our population’s health is very different. Illnesses, like infectious diseases, that once were the biggest health problems of the day have been overtaken by the development of long term conditions related to the way we lead our lives in modern Britain.

Preventable diseases are placing an increasing burden on our NHS, obesity alone costs £5bn a year. If we carry on as we are, this is set to rise drastically to a level that we cannot sustain.