Browse by: "2015"

Ageing has a wide range of impacts on individuals and society as a whole. But the consequences for health care, working life, income and well-being in general are not always what many people imagine. OECD Insights: Ageing: Debate the Issues discusses the problems, challenges, and opportunities that ageing brings to citizens and governments in developed and developing countries. Experts on demography, medical research, pensions, employment and other domains from inside and outside the OECD present their latest analyses and views on one of the most important trends shaping our societies.

Income inequality is rising. A quarter of a century ago, the average disposable income of the richest 10% in OECD countries was around seven times higher than that of the poorest 10%; today, it’s around 9½ times higher. Why does this matter? Many fear this widening gap is hurting individuals, societies and even economies. This book explores income inequality across five main headings. It starts by explaining some key terms in the inequality debate. It then examines recent trends and explains why income inequality varies between countries. Next it looks at why income gaps are growing and, in particular, at the rise of the 1%. It then looks at the consequences, including research that suggests widening inequality could hurt economic growth. Finally, it examines policies for addressing inequality and making economies more inclusive.

Colombia’s record in extending health insurance and health services to its population is impressive. In 1990, around 1 in 6 of the population had health insurance. Now, nearly 97% do, with greatest expansion occurring amongst poorer households. Likewise, in 1993 out-of-pocket spending made up 52% of total national expenditure on health. By 2006, this had fallen to less than 15%. Although Colombia has high rates of income inequality (with a Gini coefficient of 53.5 in 2012, compared to the OECD average of 32.2), access to health care services is much more equal. In urban populations, for example, 1.8% of children aged less than two years of age are recorded as having received no routine vaccinations, compared to 1.0% of rural children. Colombia nevertheless faces important challenges to maintain and improve the performance of its health system. This report looks at Colombia’s health care system in detail and offers recommendations on what Colombia can do to ensure accessibility, quality, efficiency and sustainability.

Cette publication présente les effectifs et les caractéristiques des populations émigrées par pays d’origine avec une attention particulière portée sur les niveaux d’éducation et la situation sur le marché du travail. Elle offre aux pays d’origine un portrait détaillé de la taille et de la composition de leurs diasporas ainsi que de leur évolution depuis 2000. Elle est composée d’un chapitre de synthèse et de six chapitres régionaux : Asie et Océanie, Amérique latine et Caraïbes, pays de l’OCDE, pays européens hors OCDE et Asie centrale, Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord et Afrique subsaharienne. Les chapitres régionaux sont suivis d’une note régionale et des notes par pays.

Tackling mental ill-health of the working-age population is a key issue for labour market and social policies in OECD countries. OECD governments increasingly recognise that policy has a major role to play in keeping people with mental ill-health in employment or bringing those outside of the labour market back to it, and in preventing mental illness. This report on Australia is the ninth and last in a series of reports looking at how the broader education, health, social and labour market policy challenges identified in Sick on the Job? Myths and Realities about Mental Health and Work (OECD, 2012) are being tackled in a number of OECD countries. It concludes that policy thinking in Australia shows well-advanced awareness both of the costs of mental illness for society as a whole and of the health benefits of employment. However, challenges remain in: making employment issues a concern of the health care services; helping young people succees in their future working lives; making the workplace a safe, supportive psychosocial environment; and better designing and targeting employment services for jobseekers with mental ill-health.

The report provides a comprehensive picture on the territorial differences in many well-being dimensions across the 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. It represents a sound base for state and local policy makers, political leaders and citizens to better understand people’s living conditions, gauge progress in various aspects of economy and society and use these indicators to improve the design and implementation of policies. It is a part of the “How’s Life in Your Region?” work produced by the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the behest of the Regional Development Policy Committee.

The 10-year anniversary edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD and G20 countries over the last two years. Two special chapters provide deeper analysis of first-tier pension schemes and of the impact of short or interrupted careers, due to late entry into employment, childcare or unemployment, on pension entitlements. Another chapter analyses the sensitivity of long-term pension replacement rates on various parameters. A range of indicators for comparing pension policies and their outcomes between OECD and G20 countries is also provided.

Die vorliegende Publikation ist die erste umfassende, auf Ebene aller EU- und OECD-Länder durchgeführte internationale Vergleichsstudie der Situation der Zuwanderer und ihrer Kinder. Sie ist das Ergebnis einer Kooperation zwischen der Europäischen Kommission (Generaldirektion Migration und Inneres) und der OECD-Abteilung Internationale Migration mit dem Ziel eines regelmäßigen Monitoring vergleichbarer Integrationsindikatoren in den EU- und OECD-Ländern. Dieser Bericht wurde mit finanzieller Unterstützung der Europäischen Union erstellt.

Australia’s health system functions remarkably well, despite operating under a complex set of institutions that make coordinating patient care difficult. Complications arising from a split in federal and state government funding and responsibilities are central to these challenges. This fragmented health care system can disrupt the continuity of patient care, lead to a duplication of services and leave gaps in care provision. Supervision of these health services by different levels of government can manifest in avoidable impediments such as the poor transfer of health information, and pose difficulties for patients navigating the health system. Adding to the Australian system’s complexity is a mix of services delivered through both the public and private sectors. To ease health system fragmentation and promote more integrated services, Australia should adopt a national approach to quality and performance through an enhanced federal government role in steering policy, funding and priority setting. The states, in turn, should take on a strengthened role as health service providers, with responsibility for primary care devolved to the states to better align it with hospital services and community care. A more strategic role for the centre should also leave room for the strategic development of health services at the regional level, encouraging innovation that is responsive to local population need, particularly in rural and remote areas.

L’écart continue de se creuser entre riches et pauvres. Au cours des décennies ayant précédé la Grande récession, la croissance économique bénéficiait déjà de manière disproportionnée aux catégories à haut revenu, tandis que les ménages à bas revenu étaient laissés pour compte. Depuis la crise, les disparités se sont aggravées, et dans de nombreux pays de l’OCDE, les inégalités atteignent désormais leur plus haut niveau depuis que des données sont recueillies. Ce creusement de long terme des inégalités de revenu suscite non seulement des inquiétudes de nature sociale et politique, mais il engendre également des préoccupations d’ordre économique : les inégalités de revenu ont tendance à peser sur la croissance du PIB, sous l’effet de la distance toujours plus grande entre les 40 % les moins riches et le reste de la société. La question de savoir comment inverser cette tendance et promouvoir des opportunités pour tous figure désormais au premier rang des priorités des gouvernements dans de nombreux pays.

Cette nouvelle édition du Panorama de la santé présente les données comparables les plus récentes sur les principaux indicateurs de la santé et des systèmes de santé des pays membres de l’OCDE. Pour un sous-groupe d’indicateurs, elle contient aussi des données se rapportant à des pays partenaires dont l'Afrique du Sud, le Brésil, la Chine, la Colombie, le Costa Rica, la Fédération de Russie, l'Inde, l'Indonésie, la Lettonie et la Lituanie. Cette édition contient deux nouveautés : une série de tableaux de bord qui résument la performance des pays de l’OCDE sur des indicateurs clés de santé et des systèmes de santé, et un chapitre spécial sur les tendances récentes des dépenses pharmaceutiques parmi les pays de l’OCDE. Cette édition contient également de nouveaux indicateurs sur la migration du personnel de santé et sur la qualité des soins de santé.

This new edition of Health at a Glance presents the most recent comparable data on the performance of health systems in OECD countries. Where possible, it also reports data for partner countries (Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russian Federation and South Africa). Compared with the previous edition, this new edition includes a new set of dashboards of health indicators to summarise in a clear and user-friendly way the relative strengths and weaknesses of OECD countries on different key indicators of health and health system performance, and also a special focus on the pharmaceutical sector. This edition also contains new indicators on health workforce migration and on the quality of health care.

The book presents a background study of DRG-based payment systems, drawing on the experience of implementing such hospital funding arrangements internationally, including an overview of developments in the Asia and Pacific region. It underscores the need for countries to be clear about their purpose and objective for introducing Diagnosis Related Groups, as well as their place in health-care financing reform, and for policy-makers to reflect on the importance of country-specific starting points, objectives and context in which the hospital payment reforms are being implemented. Chapter 4 – written by Yuki Murakami and Luca Lorenzoni – investigates the evidence regarding the impact on cost, quality and efficiency of the introduction of a DRG-based payment system.
 

The global fleet of powered two-wheelers (PTWs) is constantly increasing. In many countries, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds play a significant role in mobility, particularly in many of the world’s large cities. As such, PTWs are becoming an important component of the transport system. However, they represent an important challenge for road safety. PTW riders are at far more risk than car drivers per kilometre ridden in terms of fatalities and severe injuries entailing long-term disability. Moreover, they have not benefited from safety improvements at the same pace as car occupants over recent decades. Addressing the issue of PTW safety is thus an essential contribution to the success of the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety, which aims at halving the expected number of road deaths worldwide by 2020.
This report reviews recent trends in powered two-wheeler crashes, the factors contributing to these crashes and their severity. It describes a set of countermeasures targeting user behaviours, the use of protective equipment, the vehicles and the infrastructure. Finally, it discusses motorcycle safety strategies in the context of a safe system.