Quality of health care

Every day, health care providers have to deal with an array of health problems, including infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and life-threatening diseases and injuries. Some of the most frequent and serious health problems in OECD countries are cardiovascular diseases (including heart attacks, strokes and other diseases) and different types of cancer. These are, by far, the two main causes of death in OECD countries, with all cardiovascular diseases accounting for about one-third of all deaths and all types of cancer for about one-fourth of all deaths. While the occurrence of cardiovascular problems and cancers might be reduced through greater prevention efforts (e.g., reductions in tobacco smoking), health care systems have a major role to play in the early detection of these health problems and providing effective and timely treatments when these problems are diagnosed.