Develop a strategy to encourage people to test for a disease or health risk factor of your choice.

Public health officials and other concerned groups have struggled for years trying to persuade women to have breast cancer examinations and men to be checked for prostate cancer. The technical ability to detect disease or diseasecausing conditions has exploded in recent years. There are screening tests for high cholesterol (a heart attack risk factor), high blood pressure, osteoporosis, inherited breast cancer risk, HIV, and colon cancer, among others.
The advantages of early detection are great. Some diseases may be prevented entirely by early detection of potential causes (high cholesterol). Others are treated much more effectively and effi ciently if detected and treated early. Thus, early detection can save lives, suffering, and money.