EU Healthcare: Bad health: EU buries billions with 550,000 premature deaths due to chronic disease

A joint OECD/European Commission report says chronic diseases and premature deaths cost the EU billions every year. It calls for better prevention policies and improved health care. So what else is new?

Health reports seldom say anything new. There's the obligatory risk factors - smoking, alcohol and obesity - and an equally standard call for better prevention policies and improved healthcare systems. Let's face it: We could all live a bit more healthily.

Such is the mainline in "Health at a Glance: Europe 2016," a joint report launched Wednesday (23.11.2016) by the OECD and the European Commission in Brussels.

But what's striking about this report is the human cost of Europe's failing health.

The report estimates that about 550,065 people of working-age (25-64 years) in the European Union die prematurely from chronic diseases. It could be a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, or a form of cancer. And their dying early, says the report, costs the EU 115 billion euros annually.

Note EU-Digest: another issue not discussed in this report, which certainly must be seen as a part of the problem, is that in some countries, like the Netherlands, where insurance programs have been  privatized and the insurance premium costs have continuously been on the rise for the consumer, people have not been going to the Dr. or hospital for preventive care, mainly because of personal economic reasons.

For the complete report Read more: Bad health: EU buries billions with 550,000 premature deaths due to chronic disease | Science | DW.COM | 23.11.2016

European Economy: OECD: European Economy Is Slowly Recovering But New Challenges Are Emerg

The European economy is gradually recovering but further policy action will be required to address unresolved legacies of the global economic crisis that are weighing on growth and major new concerns that have emerged, according to two new OECD reports.

The latest OECD Economic Surveys of the European Union and of the Euro Area, presented today in Paris by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, underline the challenges facing European policymakers. Although growth has gradually strengthened, unemployment in many countries is still high, investment remains below pre-crisis levels in most European countries, and credit growth is still sluggish.

The Surveys project EU GDP will grow by 1.8% this year and 1.9% in 2017, while GDP in the euro area will grow by 1.6% this year and 1.7% in 2017.

‘Europe has put the worst of the crisis behind it, but there is still much more to do to support a full robust recovery that benefits all Europeans,’ Mr Gurría said. ‘Most of the recommendations in these two Economic Surveys have one thing in common: they call for collective action by European countries. Cooperative solutions have enabled Europe to leave the worst of the crisis behind it. But continued cooperation is still needed to implement effective solutions to common problems.

The alternative to collective action is not the status quo, but something worse: the risk that Europe will move backwards. This would jeopardise what has been achieved to date by the Single Market and the rest of the EU acquis, decreasing growth and destroying jobs across Europe.’

The Surveys say that countries with fiscal space should use budgetary spending to boost growth. Given the deep cuts in public investment since the global financial crisis, the reports recommend increasing public support for key investment projects. Enacting broad reforms to tax structures and public spending would also favour growth.

Easing financial constraints would bring benefits across the economy, notably to private sector firms considering future investment plans. This will require addressing one of the legacies of the crisis – the resolution of non-performing loans in many countries, which threaten financial stability and act as a drag on bank credit.

 Waivers could be applied to the new Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive rules to help put in place government-supported schemes when non-performing loans are a serious economic disturbance, the Surveys said.

The Surveys discuss the need for additional steps to deepen the single European market, notably with regard to labour mobility, which can be a key tool to reduce unemployment and boost productivity.

Reducing administrative and regulatory barriers in the services sector and speeding up the recognition of professional qualifications from one country to another would encourage internal mobility, the Surveys said.

Read moreL OECD: European Economy Is Slowly Recovering But Legacies Of The Crisis Remain And New Challenges Are Emerging | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide