europa.eu (07.09.2023) One year ago the European Commission presented the European Care Strategy. One year after, several actions were launched to ensure high-quality affordable and accessible care services and to improve the situation of care providers. This was done in close cooperation with Member States, social partners, and stakeholders.

worldbank (18.08.2023) Technology and data are integral to daily life. As health systems face increasing demands to deliver new, more, better, and seamless services affordable to all people, data and technology are essential. With the potential and perils of innovations like artificial intelligence the future of health care is expected to be technology-embedded and data-linked. This shift involves expanding the focus from digitization of health data to integrating digital and health as one: Digital-in-Health.

orfonline.org (08.08.2023) By taking a gender-transformative and a rights-based entitlement approach, this Policy Brief stresses the importance of investing in the care economy within the context of COVID-19 recovery plans, the G20 agenda of striving for just and equitable growth, and India’s Vision 2047. Ensuring greater gender equality in the distribution of paid and unpaid work can be socially transformative and enhance gross domestic product.

oecd.org (June 2023) This report presents an in-depth cross-country analysis of how long-term care workers fare along the different dimensions of job quality. In the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the applause for care workers was a clear expression of the strong recognition of their hard work and exposure to risks in their job. However, as the applause faded after the peak of the crisis, questions have re-emerged about how to improve the working conditions of long-term care workers in a sustainable way.

ids.ac.uk (01.06.2023) The Covid-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the need to ensure equitable access to safe, effective and affordable health services. The very rapid shift to the use of smartphone apps and telephone consultations (telemedicine) has highlighted the potential impact of digital innovations on the capacity of health services to meet this need. It is time to take digital health seriously. In 2021, The Lancet and the Financial Times published a report by a commission of experts entitled Governing health futures 2030: growing up in a digital world.

oecd.org (2023) This second edition of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared jointly by OECD and the World Bank, presents a set of key indicators of health status, determinants of health, healthcare resources and utilisation, healthcare expenditure and financing, quality of care, health workforce, and ageing across 33 Latin America and the Caribbean countries.

oecd.org (23.02.2023) The COVID-19 pandemic had massive consequences for societies and health systems across the OECD and beyond. Health systems were not resilient enough. Resilient health systems plan and are ready for shocks, such as pandemics, economic crises or the effects of climate change. They are able to minimise the negative consequences of crises, recover as quickly as possible, and adapt to become better performing and more prepared. Smart, targeted investments in health system resilience are needed to improve health and ensure the next shock is less disruptive and costly.

East Asia Forum (18.01.2023) China has translated its economic development into improved social welfare. China’s quest for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all while lifting 800 million people out of poverty is an example. Its experience in healthcare development provides transferrable lessons for developing countries in making progress towards UHC.

The use of telemedicine, or remote clinical consultations, was limited in most OECD countries before the COVID‑19 pandemic, held back by regulatory barriers and hesitancy from patients and providers. In early 2020, as COVID‑19 massively disrupted in-person care, governments moved quickly to promote the use of telemedicine. The number of teleconsultations skyrocketed, playing a vital role in maintaining access to care, but only partly offsetting reductions in in-person care.

aseanbriefing.com (21.10.2022) Singapore has recently announced a new healthcare reform plan that will shift the country’s healthcare strategy towards preventive care. The program is called Healthier SG and aims to provide a family physician and one health plan for every resident. The hope is that family doctors will develop strong relationships with their patients and play a more prominent role in preventive healthcare. The change in strategy comes because Singapore is fast becoming an aging society, with one in four residents aged 65 and above by 2030.