The Republic has a below average number of acute hospital beds, but one of the highest bed occupancy rates among OECD countries, a report published yesterday has found.
OECD Health at a Glance 2007 says that in the case of Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom, bed occupancy rates have increased while the number of acute care beds have decreased over time. Based on figures for 2005, the Republic has 2.8 acute hospital beds per 1,000 population compared with an OECD average of 3.9. In 1990, there were 3.2 acute hospital beds per 1,000 people here.
The report notes that health expenditure growth in Ireland, Luxembourg and Korea has been almost twice the OECD average between 1995 and 2005. "In general, the countries that have experienced the highest growth over this period . . . have been those countries that started out with relatively lower health expenditure per capita in the mid-1990s," the report states.
Life expectancy in Ireland was 79.5 years in 2005, above the OECD average, while the infant mortality rate here - considered a sensitive indicator of overall health - is 4.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, lower than the OECD average of 5.4.
The report found that Ireland has the highest annual average rate in expenditure in medicines between 1995 and 2005. At 7.6 per cent of health expenditure, it was well in excess of the OECD average of 4.6 per cent.
The report also shows that Ireland has the second highest alcohol consumption, with 13.5 litres per capita for people aged 15 years and over. The OECD average is 9.5 litres.
Ireland has one of the highest death rates from breast cancer, along with Denmark, Hungary and the Netherlands, according to the OECD report. But the Department of Health last night disputed any interpretation suggesting that survival rates for breast cancer have declined here.
"It is important to note that the OECD report confirms that survival in Ireland is increasing. In particular, it shows a 6.7 per cent increase [ in breast cancer survival] for the period 1999-2004, compared with 1994-1998," the department said.
But it acknowledged there was room for improvement in survival rates for all cancers.
The OECD report notes that death rates for all types of cancer have declined "at least slightly" in most countries since 1980, although it points out that the decline has been more moderate than for cardiovascular disease. It says this is the reason why cancer now accounts for a larger percentage of overall deaths.
Heart attacks and strokes accounted for one-quarter of all deaths in OECD countries in 2004. Japan and Korea have the lowest death rates from coronary heart disease, followed by Spain,Portugal and Italy, while Slovakia and Hungary have the highest.
The Republic has an age standardised death rate from stroke of 41.2 per 100,000 women, compared with an OECD average of 54.4. Among all countries, mortality rates from coronary heart disease are much higher for men than for women.