Calls for a big increase in UK spending on preventative policies

Among the preventative measures cited by the thinktank were the government’s family hubs, where parents can access help and advice. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Government spending on preventative policies from vaccines to family hubs should be significantly increased and the Treasury should create an accounting category to monitor it, according to a report by the thinktank Demos.

“What you measure really matters: that’s how things get prioritised,” said Anita Charlesworth, a co-author and the director of research at the Health Foundation, a thinktank.