Identifying and dealing with high-risk groups systematically and transparantly

In many countries, it is the government’s responsibility to protect and prornote public health. Instead of relying on the curative care alone, governments actively promote preven tion approaches with the airn of providing health protection for all. A complicating factor is that people differ considerably in terms of their risk of disease and health impairment. How can such variations in the population be dealt with consistently, across a broad range of issues? Identification of high-risk groups requires a standard, weli-documented approach. This chapter describes a systematic approach to identify high-risk groups for specific issues. It is based on a recent advisory report of the Health Council of the Netherlands (HCN) (2011a). The approach is illustrated with a case study on Q fever in the Netherlands, also based on Health Council advisory reports (HCN, 2010a, 2010b, 201 1h).

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