World Health Assembly delegates have agreed on an ambitious new strategic plan for the next 5 years. The WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work (GPW) is designed to help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – with a particular focus on SDG3: ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages […]
Delegates at World Health Assembly agree on new 5-year strategic plan Read More »
Multidisciplinary care is a game-changing approach, considered an alternative to traditional institutionalised care. It makes the best use of the skills mix of the health workforce: multiprofile teams include family doctors, paediatricians, dentists, primary care nurses, nurse aides, social workers and health administrative staff. Health workers interact closely with patients and families, draw up patient-specific
Multidisciplinary primary care teams in Spain Read More »
Assessing the performance of health systems is essential to understanding how they work, and therefore to improving them. It is a complex process that involves statistical measurements, deep analysis and development of practical actions. Sound health system performance assessment (HSPA) is achieved through the joint actions of different players, including policy-makers, statistical institutes, researchers, healthcare
Health systems performance review Read More »
Santé Publique France and the DREES have published a summary of the 2017 report on French Population Health in English. Socio-territorial health inequalities are mapped by examining several morbidity and mortality indicators, and the social disadvantage index of different areas. Life expectancy in France is high compared to many Member States: 80.5 years for women
2017 Report on the French population health Read More »
A survey that included 32 countries in Europe in 2015 found that more than two thirds had extended the official scopes of practice of nurses in primary care. Ireland is one of those countries. As of April 2016, a total of 894 nurses and midwives in the country were registered to prescribe medicinal products. This
Integrated health and social services will soon become reality in Greece, with the city of Ioannina set to pilot a new model of service integration to better meet the needs of its people. Experts from WHO/Europe and the Greek Ministry of Health discussed the piloting of integrated services at a local policy dialogue in Ioannina,
Integrating health and social care in Greece Read More »
Using Indonesia as an example, the World Health Organization (WHO) showcases a range of tools for gathering data needed about the health state of all population subgroups including the most disadvantaged. In Indonesia in 2012, immunization programs had eliminated tetanus in three of the sprawling archipelago’s four regions, but lower vaccination rates in the poorest
Discovering who misses out on health: the example of Indonesia Read More »
The Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in health is preparing three opinions on priority topics of the EU health strategy: payment models for high-cost medicines, access to healthcare and the performance of primary care. The opinions will be ready in the second semester of 2017 and will feed into the further policy work
Cross-country variation in health expenditure may be the result of differences in the prices of goods and services or differences in the volume of care, or a mix of both. Separating health spending into volume and price measures helps policy makers better understand the drivers of cross-country variations, and helps them decide what policy responses
International comparisions of health prices and volumes Read More »
The Swedish government has introduced a new national mental health strategy for 2016-2020. It is based on five focus areas identified as the most important to strengthen mental health and prevent mental illness: Prevention and promotion efforts Accessible early interventions Focus on vulnerable groups Participation and rights Organization and leadership Each focus area includes people
National mental health strategy in Sweden Read More »
