Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Switzerland works actively with the OECD on health issues, sharing knowledge with other States and obtaining assessments of its health system through comparative studies.

ocde ministerielle 2017 — The ministers of health at the OECD Health Ministerial, Paris (F), 17th of January 2017

Role of the OECD

"Better policies for better lives". Established in 1961, the OECD's mission is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people. It provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems (see the OECD website). Its analyses, policy recommendations and definition of international standards are based on statistics, facts and actual experience.

Every year, the organization produces "Health at a Glance", which shares comparable data of Member States' health systems, adopting an essentially quantitative approach. From time to time, the OECD similarly publishes thematic studies.

Switzerland's multi-faceted contribution

Through its involvement in the OECD, Switzerland contributes to the dialogue and cooperation between Member States and associated non-Member States. In the field of health, Switzerland actively contributes to the work of the Health Committee and its entities by participating in meetings, providing national statistical data and occasionally supporting the production of thematic studies. In addition, Switzerland encourages the collaboration between the OECD and the WHO.

Switzerland's benefits

Switzerland derives specific benefits from its membership of the OECD:

through the OECD, Switzerland is able to share experiences and best practices with States that are experiencing similar public health issues;
the statistical comparisons drawn by the organization provide Switzerland with a reliable benchmarking tool.

These comparisons and pooling of experience allow Switzerland to continuously improve its health system, and ultimately to raise the health level of its population.

Links

OECD - "Health" pages

OECD - Reviews of Health Systems - Switzerland