National Institute for Health and Welfare THL, Department of Health, Functional Capacity and Welfare, PO Box 30, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland.
Eur J Public Health. 2012 Oct;22(5):716-21. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckr195. Epub 2012 Jan 31.
The European Union (EU) lacks adequate capacity for public health monitoring. The creation of a stable European Health Information System would help Member States to carry out evidence-based health policy. Such a system would also benefit EU health priorities by providing European wide comparable information. This study is the first comprehensive assessment of the availability of general health data in Europe.
The main aim was to assess the availability of the European Community Health Indicators (ECHI) in each EU Member State. This was done by means of a review of international health databases, an online survey and face-to-face discussions with experts in 31 European countries.
The European average availability score for all ECHI indicators was 74% ranging from 56% to 84%. In most countries, about half of the ECHI indicators can be derived from routinely collected health information. This is true for demographic information, mortality and hospital discharge-based morbidity. However, many important ECHI indicators are lacking in most European countries. These include population representative data for health determinants, the provision and use of health care services, injuries, the quality of health care and health promotion.
Valid health information is essential for improving people's health across Europe. There is an urgent need to develop harmonized methods for gathering and disseminating representative health data. These methods should be developed jointly by DG Health and Consumers, Eurostat and EU Member States.
欧盟在公共卫生监测方面能力不足。建立一个稳定的欧洲健康信息系统将有助于成员国开展循证卫生政策。这样的系统还将通过提供全欧洲可比的信息，使欧盟的卫生重点受益。本研究是对欧洲一般卫生数据可用性的首次全面评估。
主要目的是评估欧盟成员国中欧洲社区卫生指标 (ECHI) 的可用性。这是通过对国际卫生数据库进行审查、对 31 个欧洲国家的专家进行在线调查和面对面讨论来实现的。
所有 ECHI 指标的欧洲平均可用性评分为 74%，范围为 56%至 84%。在大多数国家，ECHI 指标中有大约一半可以从常规收集的健康信息中得出。这适用于人口统计信息、死亡率和基于医院出院的发病率。然而，许多重要的 ECHI 指标在大多数欧洲国家都缺乏。这些指标包括健康决定因素的代表性人口数据、卫生保健服务的提供和使用、伤害、卫生保健质量和健康促进。
有效的健康信息对于改善欧洲人民的健康至关重要。迫切需要制定协调一致的方法来收集和传播有代表性的健康数据。这些方法应由 DG Health and Consumers、Eurostat 和欧盟成员国共同制定。
