By Stefan Schreck, Head of Health Information Unit, European Commission, DG Health and Consumers
In November, DG Health and Consumers of the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) jointly published the second edition of the report ‘Health at a Glance: Europe’.
The report, presented in a user-friendly format, gives a set of key indicators of health status, determinants of health, healthcare resources and activities, quality of care, health expenditure and financing in 35 European countries, including the 27 European Union member states, 5 candidate countries and 3 EFTA countries.
The publication reflects the long and fruitful collaboration between the OECD and the European Commission in the development and reporting of health statistics. Some of the key findings of the report include:
- Life expectancy at birth in EU countries has increased by over 6 years between 1980 and 2010
- Chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and dementia are increasingly prevalent
- Most European countries have reduced tobacco consumption via public awareness campaigns, advertising bans and increased taxation
- Growth in health spending per capita slowed or fell in real terms in 2010 in almost all European countries, reversing a trend of steady increases
The
complete report
(in English) and the
executive summary
(in all EU official languages) are available.
