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United Kingdom

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The health information system, established under previous Community action programmes on public health, will be further developed through actions on ‘health knowledge and information’ under the forthcoming programme of Community action in the field of public health 2007 to 2013. In close partnership with the Member States, candidate countries and EEA/EFTA countries, Eurostat will, through the ESS, further develop the statistical element of this system, in particular for the European Community Health Indicators (ECHI).

Statistical data on public health are also required for sustainable development indicators, structural indicators, context indicators on disability and indicators developed in the context of the OMC for the support of national strategies for the development of high-quality, accessible and sustainable health care and long-term care.

In cooperation with the activities under the Community public health programme, with the relevant EU agencies and with the international organisations competent in the field of public health statistics (WHO, OECD and UNECE), the focus is on the further development and implementation of the methodology, in particular in the fields of health status, health determinants (such as life style and environmental factors), health care (including health expenditures) and causes of death.

Main initiatives for 2008 to 2012:

  • where possible, Commission Regulations will be adopted for the implementation of the forthcoming Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work,

  • the infrastructure for the basic system on public health statistics will be reinforced, giving special attention to the examination, consolidation and implementation of the relevant methodologies, such as the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) and the System of Health Accounts (SHA),

  • the availability, comparability, timeliness and policy relevance of statistics on public health – including statistics on disability and on health care, disaggregated by gender – will be improved, with specific attention to further methodological development and taking into account the different contexts in each country.