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...
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...
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...
Ensuring the safety of patients and personnel and improving quality have become important objectives for national health systems in developed and developing countries alike, in response to research highlighting poor quality, increasing patient expectations, and media reports. There is a general belief, s...
In the next twenty years, the European Union will gain 17 million people over age 65 – a 30% increase – and 5.5 million more people over age 80, a 39% increase. Disability in old age is frequent and not only lowers the quality of life of its victims, but strains society’s limited resources for assi...
Many countries have decided to reduce the number of hospital beds. Some have succeeded by making a sustained investment in alternative facilities, but some have been so successful that they now face shortages, meaning growing waiting lists and difficulties in admitting acutely ill patients. Other countri...
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....
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....
Tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable premature death in the world today, claiming 1.6 million lives per year in the European Region, with 2 million projected by 2020. Although tobacco deaths are on the rise globally, in some places control policies have managed to reduce smoking. Millions of peo...
Mental disorders are responsible for about 12 - 15 % of the world’s total disability – more than cardiovascular diseases, and twice as much as cancer. Their impact on daily life is even more extensive, accounting for more than 30% of all years lived with disability. Findings: There are no persuasive ...
