Wien. Life expectancy in Austria is relatively high at around 84 years for women and 79 years for men, but the number of years of life spent in good health, at 58 and 57 years, is well below the European average of 65 and 64 years respectively.
In order to increase this average, the Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA) has now taken up the cause of analyzing national strategies and programs for the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases in several countries in order to derive health policy recommendations for action for Austria. According to AIHTA, national strategies and programs should create framework conditions for a health-promoting living and working environment for the population.
For years, the greatest health policy challenge has been non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases (COPD & Co) or depression. This fact was said to have receded into the background, especially during the corona pandemic.
18 strategies examined
In a study, the AIHTA has now analyzed national strategies and programs for the prevention and management of NCD. A total of 18 strategies from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, Great Britain, Canada and Australia were considered.
Furthermore, the evaluation results of a total of eleven programs were analyzed on the basis of 21 scientific articles. Most of the studies showed positive effects on mortality, disease burden, quality of life, self-management or health literacy, but due to the heterogeneity of the studies included and the partly low level of evidence, no conclusive assessments of the effectiveness of the programs examined might be derived.
Nevertheless, the AIHTA has developed recommendations: Health-promoting measures should start in early childhood and take into account the social factors influencing health with a “health in all policies” approach.
According to the AIHTA report, it is also important for successful NCD strategies to plan the evaluation before programs and measures are implemented. Germany, for example, has legally enshrined the obligation to evaluate disease management programs. However, the neighbors have the problem that the studies on the effectiveness of these programs are often not very meaningful.
