Improving health outcomes is a key objective for OECD countries (oecd.org), as it can contribute to higher economic growth and increased welfare.

What does the OECD do in the field of health?

The OECD takes a multidimensional approach to health, as many aspects of public policy can affect the public’ health.

The OECD’s health-related work is not oriented towards analysing the health status of the population; however, it publishes data on member countries’ health systems and health expenditure.

The OECD analyses the quality of services in different countries, looks at trends, compares countries’ health services, and carries out studies that shed light on the effects of measures and reforms implemented by member countries to improve quality, efficiency and outcomes in the health sector.

Organisation

Work on health-related issues within the OECD is carried out by the Health Division in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. The Health Division also serves as the secretariat for the Health Committee.

The Health Committee mainly consists of delegates from all member countries and meets twice a year. Meetings at ministerial level are held approximately every five years.

Building health systems

Norway has permanent delegates to the meetings. The Health Committee’s most important areas of work are the development of comparative data on health policy and outcomes, such as quality, resource use, preventive health, pharmaceuticals, ageing, financing and workforce.

As a result of the pandemic, in recent years there has also been substantial work to examine what makes health systems resilient.

The Committee has also addressed important areas of development and their significance for health services, such as digitalisation/AI and climate.

One priority area has also been PaRIS (Patient-Reported Indicator Surveys) (oecd.org), a survey of adult users’ reported experience of quality in health services.

OECD expert groups

To support the Health Committee, several expert groups have been established on a permanent or temporary basis. The OECD works closely with other international organisations in the field of health, for example the WHO, the G7 and the G20.

OECD Health Data (oecd.org) is an online database and one of the most comprehensive sources of health-related statistics.

A key flagship publication is Health at a Glance, which is published for OECD countries and European countries every other year. In addition, the OECD publishes several reports annually.

The Council of Europe and health

Co-operation within the Council of Europe has as its main objective promoting democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

In the field of health, Norway participates in the Pompidou Group, an interdisciplinary co-operation on drug issues, and in the Council of Europe’s European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM).

Among other things, the EDQM develops standards for active substances and excipients used in medicines.