Health at a Glance 2009
OECD Indicators
This edition also contains new chapters on the health workforce and on access to care, an important policy objective in all OECD countries. The chapter on quality of care has been extended to include a set of indicators on the quality of care for chronic conditions.
Each indicator in the book is presented in a user-friendly format, consisting of charts illustrating variations across countries and over time, brief descriptive analyses highlighting the major findings conveyed by the data, and a methodological box on the definition of the indicator and any limitations in data comparability. An annex provides additional information on the demographic and economic context within which health systems operate, as well as a concise description of key characteristics in health system financing and delivery of services in OECD countries.
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 5.14MBPDF
-
Click to Read online and shareREAD
Pharmaceutical consumption
The consumption of pharmaceuticals is increasing across OECD countries not only in terms of expenditure (see Indicator 7.4 “Pharmaceutical expenditure”), but also in terms of volume (or quantity) of drugs consumed. One of the factors contributing to the rise in pharmaceutical consumption is the ageing of the population, which leads to growing demand for drugs to treat or at least control different ageing-related diseases. But the trend rise in pharmaceutical consumption is also observed in countries where the population ageing process is less advanced, indicating that other factors such as physicians’ prescription habits or the degree of cost-sharing with patients also play a role.
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 252.72KBPDF
-
Click to Read online and shareREAD