Although life expectancy in member states has increased by more than five years on average since 1990, inequalities in health and access to quality care still persist in Europe. This report, jointly produced by the EU and the OECD, shows that there is a gap of about eight years in life expectancy between countries with […]
Health at a Glance: Europe 2014 Read More »
Four out of every five people with diabetes live in the developing world according to the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF). Clínicas del Azúcar is a Mexican chain of diabetes one-stop-shops that reduce the cost of care by 70{ddf8d179d1bf712bb2a88ff2ad95ebdf63eaa5463c845d2f093b25848387ba96}. For more information (in Spanish), go to www.clinicasdelazucar.com
The Lazio Region of Italy has recently set up ‘Houses of Health’ facilities to help people avoid costly hospital visits. People can receive around 15 types of common health services at these locations, including blood tests, echography and radiography. To read more, go to http://ec.europa.eu
How to stay out of hospital, the Italian way Read More »
Substantial health gains (up to a three year increase in life expectancy) can be achieved from a healthier lifestyle but the effect of lifestyle on health spending is unclear and seems to disappear when overall wealth (GDP per capita) is taken into account. These are the main conclusions of the “Comparative efficiency of health systems,
The impact of lifestyle on Europe’s health systems Read More »
In the context of population ageing and economic pressures, improving older people’s knowledge and skills in healthy lifestyles, managing diseases and navigating their way through the health system, is crucial. This ‘health literacy’ is the subject of a European project: “Intervention Research on Health Literacy among Ageing Population” (IROHLA) which is taking stock of on-going health literacy
How to empower people to manage their own health Read More »
This study has mapped and reviewed the continuous professional development and lifelong learning of doctors, nurses, dentists, midwives and pharmacists in the 28 member countries of the EU and EFTA countries. It describes the policy background to the topic, reviews available literature and illustrates the outcomes of a Europe – wide survey and expert workshop,
Continual professional development and lifelong learning for health personnel Read More »
Sudden and unpredictable influxes of migrants pose significant challenges to recipient countries’ health systems. Influxes in southern European countries in particular have underlined the need to identify best practices, share experiences and start an efficient policy dialogue between stakeholders. In several ways, Portugal could be seen as a model for migrant-integration practices, although there is scope
Portugal: assessing capacity to manage sudden large influxes of migrants Read More »
768 attendees from 43 countries took part in this conference, organised by EURORDIS and the Drug Information Association. It brought together patient representatives, healthcare professionals, industry, regulators and policymakers. To read the executive summary, click here on http://ec.europa.eu
2014 European Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products Read More »
This edition of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies has focused on the health issues of migrants. It also includes articles on the commercialisation of public hospitals in Poland, perceptions about the affordability of care in the Netherlands, pharmaceutical market reform in Portugal and health service reform in Cyprus. To download the whole
Migrants and Health Read More »
ECHO – the European Collaboration for Healthcare Optimization – has produced three performance atlases showing unwarranted differences in health systems between Denmark, England, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Each atlas looks at a different topic and these first three are Lower Value Care, Potentially Avoidable Hospitalisations and Coronary Revascularisation. For more information, click here on http://cts.vresp.com
International comparisons of low value care and avoidable hospitalisations Read More »
