Good healthcare isn't just about treating people when they get ill. It's about helping people to avoid getting ill in the first place. Eating well, taking proper exercise, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, preventing sexually transmitted infections - all of these are about the personal decisions of individuals and families. But these decisions are not purely personal. All of them have major implications for future demand on NHS services, and in all of them the government has a crucial role to play in providing sound advice, making it easier for people to make healthy choices, giving people support to change unhealthy behaviour and creating a healthier environment for everyone.

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