Abstract

The Netherlands spends large sums of money on health care. Health care expenditure has increased approximately tenfold since the 1950s, not allowing for inflation. Before we can properly assess the level of care expenditure, we need to find out about the effect of such expenditure on public health. This report contributes to our understanding of such matters. It does so by focusing on three disease groups and revealing the extent to which the medical care involved contributes to public health. It also shows how care expenditure in the Netherlands is related to the resultant health benefits.
Since the 1950s, the general life expectancy of the population of the Netherlands has increased by more than seven years. This increased life expectancy is due, in part, to improvements in health care. For infectious diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases, this means that life expectancy has increased by an average of approximately four years, as a result of improvements in medical care. Categorized by gender, this amounts to well over three years for men and four to five years for women. ctancy is even more marked, amounting to approximately five years (four years for men and around six years for women). So improvements in health care mean that the Dutch are now living longer and enjoying more years of good health. ated to greater improvements in the area of cardiovascular diseases, especially strokes. It is also due to population screening for breast cancer, and to the improved treatment of this disease.