I'm not sure the point of the article is that we need to get rid of all forms of preventable death (and I think the "toxic individualism" is kind of a side poin

I'm not sure the point of the article is that we need to get rid of all forms of preventable death (and I think the "toxic individualism" is kind of a side point). As you rightly point out, it's unrealistic (and likely undesirable) to do that. I do think the article has a valid point in that we've structured many aspects of our society around one of the leading causes of preventable death, and that doesn't get enough attention.