Prevention budgets are proxies, not exact totals for health gains. They indicate the relationship between preventive spending and possible social harm, but they do not replace epidemiological effect research.
This distinction matters in an impact analysis or social cost-benefit assessment. Budgets can help show the order of magnitude, while actual value depends on reach, target group, behavioural change, implementation quality and local context. The proxy is therefore a decision-support tool, not a definitive causality claim.