Health at a Glance 2017
OECD Indicators
This new edition of Health at a Glance presents the most recent comparable data on the health status of populations and health system performance in OECD countries. Where possible, it also reports data for partner countries (Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Russian Federation and South Africa). The data presented in this publication come from official national statistics, unless otherwise stated.
This edition contains a range of new indicators, particularly on risk factors for health. It also places greater emphasis on time trend analysis. Alongside indicator-by-indicator analysis, this edition offers snapshots and dashboard indicators that summarise the comparative performance of countries, and a special chapter on the main factors driving life expectancy gains.
Smoking among adults
The health consequences of tobacco smoking are numerous, and include cancers, stroke, and coronary heart disease, among others. It is also an important contributory factor for respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), while smoking among pregnant women can lead to low birth weight and illnesses among infants. Smoking causes the largest share of overall years of healthy life lost in 15 OECD countries, and ranks second in another 16 OECD countries (Forouzanfar et al., 2016). The WHO has estimated that tobacco smoking kills 7 million people per year across the world, of which 890,000 are due to second-hand smoke. It is the leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment.
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