Publications & Documents

Cancer causes almost a quarter of all deaths in the EU27, Norway and Iceland, with five new cancer cases diagnosed every minute in 2022. Assessing and improving cancer care from prevention to treatment is essential for promoting longer, healthier lives. This report addresses the latest trends in cancer incidence and mortality in the EU and reviews key cancer risk factors, cancer screening programmes and early diagnoses, and issues in the provision of high-quality cancer care. Country performance, cross-cutting challenges and new developments are examined with a particular focus on disparities by regions, socio-economic status and gender. The report provides policy makers with fiscal, regulatory and health systems organisation tools, as well as examples of initiatives that can be undertaken in primary care, workplaces, and schools to better control cancer and counter inequalities.

Health systems are under intense pressure to adapt to evolving needs and megatrends driven by population ageing, digitalisation, and climate change. They also need to be better prepared to withstand sudden, large-scale shocks such as pandemics, financial crises, natural disasters, or cyberattacks. This shifting policy context and emerging challenges called for a revision in how OECD countries assess health system performance, to help ensure that health systems meet people’s health needs and preferences while providing quality healthcare for all. This document presents the OECD’s renewed health system performance assessment framework. It incorporates new performance dimensions, notably people-centredness, resilience, and environmental sustainability, and places increased emphasis on addressing inequalities, including those related to gender. This framework expands on existing OECD efforts in these domains and integrates the most recent advancements in health system performance assessment. By offering common definitions and fostering a shared understanding among policy makers, stakeholders and organisations, the updated framework will enhance international collaboration. Furthermore, it lays the foundation for developing future indicators, facilitating data collection, policy analysis, and the integration of knowledge.

Artificial intelligence will have profound impacts across health systems, transforming health care, public health, and research. Responsible AI can accelerate efforts toward health systems being more resilient, sustainable, equitable, and person-centred. This paper provides an overview of the background and current state of artificial intelligence in health, perspectives on opportunities, risks, and barriers to success. The paper proposes several areas to be explored for policy makers to advance the future of responsible AI in health that is adaptable to change, respects individuals, champions equity, and achieves better health outcomes for all. The areas to be explored relate to trust, capacity building, evaluation, and collaboration. This recognises that the primary forces that are needed to unlock the value from artificial intelligence are people-based and not technical. The OECD is ready to support efforts for co-operative learning and collective action to advance the use of responsible AI in health.

Finding sufficient funds to pay for more resilient health systems is challenging in the current economic context. COVID-19 has shown the need for additional targeted spending on public health interventions, the digital transformation of health systems, and bolstering the health workforce. Rising incomes, technological innovation and changing demographics put further upward pressure on health spending. This could result in health spending reaching 11.8% of GDP across OECD counties by 2040. This publication explores the policy options to finance more resilient health systems whilst maintaining fiscal sustainability. It finds that the scale of the additional health financing needs requires ambitious and transformative policy changes. Robust actions to encourage healthier populations and policies to reduce ineffective spending can put future health expenditure on a far gentler upward trajectory. These would enable spending to reach a more sustainable 10.6% of GDP in 2040. Better budgetary governance is critical. It improves how public funds for health are determined, executed and evaluated. Therefore, a focus of this report is on how good budgeting practices can increase the efficiency of current public spending, and also enable more ambitious policy changes in the medium to longer-term. Findings of this report are targeted at health and finance policy makers, with improved dialogue between health and finance ministries especially important when governments are operating in a constrained fiscal setting.

This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Netherlands, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Netherlands; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Dutch healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Netherlands. This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.

This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Malta, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Malta; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Maltese healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Malta. This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.

This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Slovenia, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Slovenia; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Slovenian healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Slovenia. This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.

This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Portugal, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Portugal; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Portuguese healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Portugal. This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.