Improving health outcomes in the light of population ageing
Health outcomes are a strong determinant of well-being and of employment at older
ages. Germany faces a range of ageing-related health challenges (OECD, 2014h; OECD,
2015j; OECD, 2015k; OECD, 2015l; OECD, 2015m).
The number of expected healthy life years
at 65 is lower than in other high-income countries (OECD, 2014h). The prevalence of
unhealthy lifestyles is high in international comparison, despite improvements in recent
years (OECD, 2014h).
Stricter regulation of advertising alcohol and tobacco products, raising
taxes and imposing explicit price thresholds below which alcoholic beverages cannot be
sold to consumers would yield high benefits in terms of higher disability adjusted life years
and lower health costs. The government is already taking steps to improve health
prevention, including through higher spending.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18a:90/nws-01