Multinational Comparisons of Health Systems Data, 2011 - The Commonwealth Fund including link to 2011 patient care coordination (11 countries)

"International comparisons of health care systems offer valuable tools to health ministers, policymakers, and academics wishing to evaluate the performance of their country's system. In this chartbook, we use data collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to compare health care systems and performance on a range of topics, including spending, hospitals, physicians, pharmaceuticals, prevention, mortality, quality of care, and prices. We present data across several industrialized countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Whenever possible, we also present the median value of all 34 members of the OECD.......

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• Chartbook (248K PDF)
• • Chartbook (626K PPT) 

    Related

    • In the Literature
      • New 2011 Survey of Patients with Complex Care Needs in Eleven Countries Finds That Care Is Often Poorly Coordinated

abstract: Comparing diagnostic delay in cancer: a cross-sectional study in three European countries with primary care-led health care systems (UK, Netherlands, Sweden)

Conclusions. A large-scale study comparing cancer delays in European countries and based on primary care-held records is feasible but would require supplementary sources of data in order to maximize information on demographic variables, the cancer stage at diagnosis and treatment details. Such a large-scale study is timely and desirable since our findings suggest systematic differences in the way cancer is managed in the three countries.

abstract: A comparison of international breast cancer guidelines - Do the national guidelines differ in treatment recommendations? USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, and Germany

(USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, and Germany)
 CONCLUDING STATEMENT: Considering that the development of guidelines is a very expensive and resource-intensive task the question arises whether the development of national guidelines in numerous countries is worth the effort since the recommendations differ only marginally.

UK: Studying DNA in Patients With Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, or Stage IV Ovarian Epithelial Cancer - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

full free access: - Pathways to the diagnosis of ovarian cancer in the UK: a cohort study in primary care - 2010 - BJOG

Implications of the findings

"The main finding is that only a minority of patients take the standard route of GP referral to a gynaecologist........"

Recruitment of newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients proved challenging in a multicentre biobanking study (UK)

full free access: PROTECT study - Dalteparin versus Unfractionated Heparin in Critically Ill Patients — NEJM (venous thromboembolism-blood clots)

"Venous thromboembolism is an important complication of critical illness.....cont'd

The PROTECT Investigators for the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group

Methods - Study Design

The trial was conducted in 67 ICUs in academic and community hospitals in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Recruitment began in May 2006 and, as projected, was completed in 4 years. The trial protocol is available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.7

full free access: Research output on primary care in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States: bibliometric analysis - bmj.com

What is already known on this topic

• The UK Research Assessment Exercise in 2008 rated 50% of UK primary care research as world class or internationally excellent, but no direct international comparisons exist

What this study adds

• In six countries with strong primary care, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands produce the most cited primary care led primary care research
• Identifying research on primary care that is carried out by primary care researchers is difficult using routine bibliometric methods
• Only 29% of research papers on primary care had at least one primary care researcher as author

About INCTR - INCTR – International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research

INCTR is located in Brussels.
It currently has branches in Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Nepal and the USA and offices in Cameroon, India, Tanzania and the UK.

Reports:

• A Decade of INCTR: Challenges and Opportunities
• Panel Discussion: Towards A Global Cancer control Program
• Report on Evolution of Pathology Program
• Oncology Nursing Program
• Psychosocial Program
• Development of an INCTR Faculty and Partnerships with Universities
• Open Educational Resources for Cancer (OERC): Two Years of Progress
• Report on Telepathology Meeting, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

2010 newsletter:

"In 2010, cancer overtook ischaemic heart disease as the leading cause of death in the world. While different groupings of diseases (e.g., combining all cardiovascular disease or dividing cancer into many different types) would produce a different rank order, the point should not be missed that cancer can no longer be ignored by global health policy-makers as a major cause of disability or death, as well as economic loss......."

abstract/full access: Cancer survival in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, 1995–2007 (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): an analysis of population-based cancer registry data : The Lancet

Note: Full access to article is free after registration (free)


"Background

Cancer survival is a key measure of the effectiveness of health-care systems. Persistent regional and international differences in survival represent many avoidable deaths. Differences in survival have prompted or guided cancer control strategies. This is the first study in a programme to investigate international survival disparities, with the aim of informing health policy to raise standards and reduce inequalities in survival.  

Methods Data from population-based cancer registries in 12 jurisdictions in six countries were provided for 2·4 million adults diagnosed with primary colorectal, lung, breast (women), or ovarian cancer during 1995—2007, with follow-up to Dec 31, 2007.

UK versus US health care: Atlantic rift : Editorial The Lancet

"Sadly, the political rancour about who spends what and on whom diverts attention from the real key to tackling chronic disease, and the only thing with the power to save both lives and money—disease prevention."

Top Cancer Specialists Receive ESMO Awards - Prof Calvert UK (Carboplatin/PARP)

UK, China Research Teams Partner on $31M Epigenetics Study | GenomeWeb Daily News | GenomeWeb

"The study will harness King's College London's Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology department and will involve 5,000 twins. The project initially will focus on obesity, diabetes, allergies, heart disease, osteoporosis, and longevity.

"Finding the crucial differences between twins will lead us to the key genes that are being turned on and off, and so to the cause of disease, with great potential to find key targets for drug treatments," Tim Spector, director of TwinsUK and leader of the Epitwin project, said in a statement."

BBC News - Cancer survival figures 'double' since 1970s

medical research/news item: (UK) Study finds EPB41L3 'protector gene' inactivated in 65% of ovarian cancers

Note: in research

"A new gene that normally protects againstovarian cancer is switched-off in two-thirds of cases of the disease, reveals a study published in the journal Neoplasia today.
This 'protector gene', known as EPB41L3, is inactivated in 65 per cent of ovarian cancers. And reactivating the gene halted tumour growth and triggered large numbers of the cancer cells to commit suicide. The research, co-funded by Cancer Research UK and gynaecological cancer research charity
The Eve Appeal, raises the prospect for developing therapies that mimic or restore the function of the gene to kill ovarian cancer cells in a targeted way...."

Mother of ovarian cancer sufferer campaigns at House of Commons UK news

GP study on ovarian cancer symptoms wins top award - UK news item

recap/full free access: Ethical Dimensions in Sciencewise-ERC (UK)

UK News | Ovarian cancer study offers vital clues for new therapies

Note: interesting article

"A University of Edinburgh study suggests that ovarian cancer patients whose tumours spread to the solid organs such as the liver and lungs should be tested for the faulty genes - BRCA1 and BRCA2 - to ensure they are given the most appropriate treatment...."

Ovarian Cancer Symptoms – What You Need to Know | UK Portal | United Kingdom | Great Britain