Governments are searching for ways to improve the equity, efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness of their health systems. In recent years there has been an acceptance of the important role of primary health care in helping to achieve these aims. However, there have been no systematic reviews on pr...
Over the last 20 years the level of private spending on health care has risen in many western European countries, leading to concern about its impact. The main channels of private spending are private health insurance policies and cost-sharing schemes in public health systems....
Europe plays a significant role in the production, trade and consumption of alcoholic beverages; it also carries a heavy social and economic burden of alcohol-related problems. Alcohol consumption is estimated to be responsible for about 10% of the total disease burden, increasing the risk of liver cirrh...
Suicide is a serious public health problem in the European Region, where rates vary from about 40 per million people (in Greece) to about 400 per million (in Hungary). Suicide rates among adolescents and young adults have also increased considerably over the last decades. Many widely-used suicide prevent...
The vast majority of older people wish to remain living in their own homes. Furthermore, institutional care is costly. Consequently there are social and economic imperatives to prevent ill health and disability in older people and enable them to remain in their own homes as long as possible. Home visitin...
The European Region had 15% of its population 65 years old or older and nearly 7% 75 or over in 2000, the world’s highest percentages. By 2030 these figures will increase to 24% and 12% respectively. The effect on health care will be amplified by a disproportionate increase in dementia, and depression,...
Antenatal care, also known as prenatal care, is the complex of interventions that a pregnant woman receives from organized health care services. The number of different interventions in antenatal care is large. These interventions may be provided in approximately 12-16 antenatal care visits during a preg...
Older people make up a large and increasing percentage of the population. As people grow older they are increasingly at risk of falling and consequent injuries. A fall may be the first indication of an undetected illness. The prevention of falls is of major importance because they engender considerable m...
Chronic diseases account for most of the burden of disease in the European Region. Although there are effective interventions for the management of various chronic conditions, there are also wide practice variations in the delivery of care. DMPs are one of the measures intended to address this situation....
Measurement is central to the concept of quality improvement; it provides a means to define what hospitals actually do, and to compare that with the original targets in order to identify opportunities for improvement....
