Sudden public health risks are more prominent in today's society, and risk prevention is the key to manage sudden public health risks. Timely and effective risk prevention can control the damage caused by sudden public health risks within an acceptable range. By combing the origin, development and definition elements of the concept of risk prevention, this paper discusses the feasibility of applying the concept of risk prevention in the field of public health in China. Then select the relevant laws and regulations of public health emergencies in China, gather the risk prevention clauses, analyze their shortcomings, and then analyze the practical difficulties of the concept of risk prevention in the field of public health. Finally, on the basis of legislation and practice, it provides a perfect path for the concept of risk prevention to apply to the field of public health.