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Introductory Note

International Health Comparisons: A Compendium of published information on healthcare systems, the provision of health care and health achievement in 10 countries

The National Audit Office has prepared a Compendium of published information on healthcare systems healthcare provision and health achievements in 10 countries including the United Kingdom, other major industrialised countries and countries with innovative approaches.

• The Compendium was compiled at the request of members of the Committee of Public Accounts and sets out relative positions and trends over time.
• The data sources used are not fully compatible and, in particular, coverage, definitions and timing vary across countries
• The Compendium does not examine the causes of differences between countries and nor can conclusions about them be reached on the basis of just the information presented.

The health of the population in any particular country depends on a range of factors such as lifestyle, standard of living and nutritional standards, as well as on healthcare provided. It is therefore not possible to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of different health systems on the basis of raw data. The Compendium simply provides a starting point for discussions on and further exploration of the relative performance of such systems.

• Health Compendium (460 KB)

The Compendium was prepared by National Audit Office staff in response to a request by the Committee of Public Accounts and is not a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General to Parliament.
 

It provides information drawn from published sources on healthcare systems, provision of health care and health achievements in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States. The main data source is OECD Health Data 2002. The National Audit Office has used these and other data as published and gives no warranty as to their accuracy.