Eurostat has released ’Key data on health in the EU’ an internationally comparable set of health data and indicators taken from the most relevant data sources available: Eurostat, the OECD and the WHO.
The publication is divided into six chapters (Population and socio-economic background, Lifestyles, Risk associated with the environment, Working conditions, Leisure and traffic, Health status, Mortality and Health care), and covers many new topics such as human resources in the care and social sector, work-related health problems, well-being, mental health, childhood mortality, antimicrobial resistance and certain communicable diseases.
Some key findings:
In 1999, 81% of EU citizens thought that they led a healthy lifestyle. In Spain, France, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Portugal and Germany more than 80% did so. Greece was the Member State with the lowest rate (64%) and also recorded the lowest percentage of people doing some exercise (19%), but had the highest share of smokers (45%) and people feeling stressed (72%).
Smoking: The lowest proportions of smokers were found in Sweden (22%), Italy (27%) and Portugal (28%), while the lowest percentage of people feeling stressed was observed in Finland (27%), Sweden (30%), Denmark and Germany (both 32%). The EU averages were 34% and 38% respectively.
Alcohol:In Ireland, 52% of the population drank alcohol regularly in 1999, compared with 25% for the EU average. Denmark and the United Kingdom (both 44%) and the Netherlands (43%) also recorded high percentages, while the lowest were observed in Italy (12%) and Spain (19%).
Healthcare: The number of people employed in the area of health and social work in the EU grew from 13 to 15 million between 1995 and 2000, with increases in the numbers of physicians and pharmacists. The number of hospital beds has dropped by more than 30 % over the past 20 years.
Salmonellosis incidence is over twice EU average in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Austria. There are 15.6 million diabetics in the EU and 4.6 million people suffering from different forms of dementia.
See Eurostat Press Release. The report can be downloaded in PDF format (4.5 megabytes) or the printed document can be purchased from Eurostat.
