Recent bibliographic resources

Cancer causes one in four premature deaths in OECD countries. It damages people’s quality of life, their ability to work, and their incomes. Cancer increases health expenditure and harms the economy through reduced labour force participation and productivity. The economic and social costs of cancer will grow as populations age and cancer treatment costs increase. This report demonstrates the strong economic and societal case for investing in cancer policies. Microsimulation modelling for 51 countries (including OECD, European Union and G20 countries), shows that stronger action on cancer would yield broad benefits. If all countries did as well as the best performing country in cancer care, a quarter of premature cancer deaths would be prevented. Addressing key cancer risk factors – including tobacco, harmful alcohol use, unhealthy diet, air pollution, overweight and physical inactivity – would lower cancer rates and health expenditure, while also increasing workforce productivity. Co-benefits of such policies include improving road safety and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Vaccination for human papillomavirus will protect future generations from cervical cancer.

With population ageing, the demand for helping older people with daily activities – so-called long-term care – is set to increase across OECD countries by more than one-third by 2050. Older people with long-term care needs are more likely to be women, 80-years-old and above, live in single households, and have lower incomes than the average. Currently, across OECD countries, publicly funded long-term care systems still leave almost half of older people with care needs at risk of poverty, particularly those with severe care needs and low income. Out-of-pocket costs represent, on average, 70% of an older person’s median income across the OECD. This report suggests avenues to improve funding to make long-term care systems better able to meet the demand for their services, and suggests policy options to improve the targeting of benefits and seek efficiency gains to contain the costs of long-term care.

Secure medical supply chains are a cornerstone of resilient health systems. Medical supply chains are complex and internationalised, often involving many suppliers. The COVID-19 pandemic, which combined an unprecedented surge in demand with interruptions in supply and trade, exacerbated pre-existing, rising shortages of essential medicines, such as antibiotics and anaesthetics, and generated shortages of medical devices, such as face masks and respirators. This report offers insights into the risks and vulnerabilities of the supply chains of medicines and medical devices. Policy options to anticipate and mitigate risks of shortages of medicines and medical devices, both routinely and in the context of severe crises, are analysed. Most importantly, the report shows that strengthening the long-term resilience of medical supply chains requires collaborative approaches that balance measures best undertaken by the private sector with those more appropriately managed by governments or supranationally.

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.