The latest edition of the Country Health Profiles and Companion Report will be launched on 13 December at 10.30 at a virtual event organised by the European Commission.

The event will be opened by Sandra Gallina (Director General, DG Health and Food Safety, European Commission), followed by a joint presentation of the Country Health Profiles by Stefano Scarpetta (Director, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD) and Josep Figueras (Director, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies). Andrzej Rys (Director, Health Systems, Medical Products and Innovation, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission) will present the Companion Report.

The release is part of the State of Health in the EU cycle, a joint project of the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (Observatory).

The Country Health Profiles cover the latest developments in the health systems of all EU countries, as well as of Iceland and Norway. They reflect specific challenges that the countries encountered in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide an analysis of the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of each country’s health system.

Experts from the OECD and the Observatory authored the Country Health Profiles, while the Commission’s Companion Report highlights cross-country trends.

The Companion Report contains in-depth analysis on three issues:

• Understanding the far-reaching health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Locking in the advantages of digital innovation in healthcare delivery and public health;
• Rethinking health workforce strategies and planning after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The State of Health in the EU cycle was launched by the European Commission in 2016. The aim is to gather up-to-date data and in-depth analyses on health systems in concise reports and make health system information easily accessible to stakeholders. This strengthens the evidence base on health systems performance for the benefit of policymakers and other health stakeholders, researchers and the general public.

The virtual launch event will take place at 10:30-11:30 on Monday, 13 December. The agenda and registration link can be found here.

More information:

• State of Health in the EU