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Scientific data key to better EU health care: WHO
LONDON (Reuters) - European Union governments fail to rely enough on scientific evidence in health care spending decisions and are sometimes influenced by political factors, World Health Organisation officials said on Wednesday.
Countries should do a better job of assessing the performance of their health care system and sharing that information with other states, they told a news conference.
Data exists proving the cost effectiveness of certain measures over others -- such as the balance between prevention and intervention -- but is often not reflected in health budgets.
"Many decisions have been taken without scientific evidence. We want to improve the part scientific evidence plays in policy making," said Marc Danzon, the WHO regional director.
"There are other reasons behind policy decisions. They are for example ... political choices," he added, without naming individual countries.
He and other officials were outlining a WHO report they will present to European Union Health ministers at a conference in Estonia next week, which aims to provide countries with better access to information to make their health systems more cost effective.
The report listed a number of areas where preventative measures were not always implemented, including road safety and injuries caused by traffic accidents. It mentioned specifically states in the former Soviet bloc.
"There is an issue regarding enforcement in some countries, with efforts undermined by police corruption, where incomes are low and the local culture is permissive," the report said.
A better functioning health service and a healthier population would help to improve any country's economy, said Joseph Figuera, the director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, who helped compile the report.
The issue of how to divide up health care spending is increasingly tricky in Europe and elsewhere as countries grapple with the rising cost of drugs and an ageing population.
"Finance ministers see the health systems as a big black hole -- but we are saying to them: If you use money more effectively, you will in the end be more competitive in the global economy," Figuera said.
(Reporting by Raissa Kasolowsky; Editing by Charles Dick)
