The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies supports and promotes evidence-based health policy-making through comprehensive and rigorous analysis of health systems in Europe. It brings together a wide range of policy-makers, academics and practitioners to analyse trends in health reform, drawing on experience from across Europe to illuminate policy issues.

The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a partnership hosted by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, which includes the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Veneto Region of Italy; the European Commission; the World Bank; UNCAM (French National Union of Health Insurance Funds); the Health Foundation; the London School of Economics and Political Science; and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The Observatory has a secretariat in Brussels and it has hubs in London (at LSE and LSHTM) and at the Berlin University of Technology.

The OECD, which traces its roots to the Marshall Plan, groups 36 member countries committed to democratic government and the market economy. It provides a forum where governments can compare and exchange policy experiences, identify good practices and promote decisions and recommendations. Dialogue, consensus and peer review are at the very heart of OECD. The OECD continues to actively engage with countries beyond the member states, by working closely with the major emerging economies.

The principle aim of the Organisation is to promote policies for sustainable economic growth and employment, and rising standards of living. The OECD is one of the world’s most reliable sources of comparable statistical, economic and social data in a broad range of public policy areas, including health, agriculture, development co-operation, education, employment, environment, taxation and trade, science, technology and industry.

By publishing robust measures of comparative health system performance, identifying and sharing good practices across our member and partner countries, and responding to country-specific demands for tailored analyses and recommendations on particular policy problems, OECD helps countries develop policies for better and healthier lives.