This document outlines the methodologies and tools currently used to assess the risk of chemicals to children’s health and also identifies possible needs for additional guidance or tools based on the results of an on-line survey conducted in November 2011. The following areas of risk assessment are covered: definitions, hazard and exposure assessment, risk characterisation, cohort studies and combined exposure to multiple chemicals.

The future sustainability of health systems will depend on how well governments are able to anticipate and respond to efficiency and quality of care challenges. Bold action is required, as well as willingness to test innovative care delivery approaches. This book examines the whole new world of possibilities in using mobiles and the Internet to address healthcare challenges.

More than 35 million people worldwide had dementia in 2010 and this number is expected to exceed 115 million by 2050. This paper reports on the opportunities offered by the informatics revolution and big data to address Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. This will require careful planning and multi-stakeholder collaboration as technical, administrative, regulatory, infrastructure and financial obstacles emerge.

The pricing of specialist and hospital services is a contentious issue in South Africa. To help inform domestic debates, the OECD Secretariat has produced a paper profiling international experiences on the pricing of specialist medical services services, competition policy and models of buying services from the private sector.

Strengthening primary health care and prevention programmes would help stem the growing tide of diabetes and other chronic health conditions in the Czech Republic, according to a new OECD report.

Health spending has started to rise again after stagnating or even falling in many OECD countries during the crisis. But the pace of growth remains well below pre-crisis rates, especially in Europe, according to OECD Health Statistics 2014.

Health care use varies widely across countries but can also vary as much or more within countries. Governments should do more to improve their health systems to prevent unnecessary interventions and ensure that everyone has the same access to quality healthcare, wherever they live, according to a new OECD report.

Several OECD countries have published their plans for the development of a future bioeconomy, in which bio-based materials and production techniques will contribute significantly to economic and environmental sustainability. The case for support for bio-based chemicals and plastics therefore warrants serious attention.

Elderly individuals with complex, chronic diseases need continuous and tailored care to maintain their health and maximise their ability to participate in society. Japan must change the way it delivers health services for older citizens by strengthening its specialist primary care and making mental health care services more widely available, according to a new OECD report.

Improving labour market participation of people with mental health problems requires well-integrated policies and services across the education, employment, health and social sectors. This paper provides examples of policy initiatives from 10 OECD countries for integrated services.

Mr. Angel Gurría was in The Hague to attend the High-Level Policy Forum on Mental Health and Work Policy Challenges in OECD Countries, where he presented key findings of the OECD Fit Mind Fit Job report and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Orange Nassau.

Dementia is increasing in prevalence, and to date has no cure or treatment. One element in improving this situation is using and sharing data more widely to increase the power of research. Further, moving beyond established medical data into big data offers the potential to tap into routinely collected data from both within and outside the health system.

Rising levels of obesity and diabetes around the world could halt a trend of decreasing mortality rates for cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and heart attacks, and even cause rates to start rising again, particularly among younger people, according to a new OECD report.

Too many lives are still lost in OECD countries because healthcare quality is improving too slowly to cope with ageing populations and the growing number of people with one or more chronic diseases, according to a new OECD report.

Urgent research is needed to assess the possible risks to human health and ecosystems from the ever-increasing amounts of engineered nanomaterials going into household waste and ending up in the environment, according to a new OECD report.

An elderly man with cardiovascular disease tests his own blood pressure, and sends the results to an online application that his doctor can access. Another patient with depression living in a rural area far from health services tells a psychiatrist how he is feeling via a video connection. All of this occurs without the patients leaving their homes.

Outdoor air pollution could cause 6 to 9 million premature deaths a year by 2060 and cost 1% of global GDP – around USD 2.6 trillion annually – as a result of sick days, medical bills and reduced agricultural output, unless action is taken, according to a new OECD report.

The G7 Health Ministers meeting in Kobe on 11-12 September welcomed OECD work on the linkages between Universal Health Coverage and healthy ageing, and recognised OECD work on access to innovative health treatments. The OECD will deliver initial findings following the French-led initiative to identify innovative options to pay for new medicines and high-cost treatments at the 17 January 2016 OECD Health Ministers meeting.

Better public health and prevention policies as well as more effective health care could save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of euros each year in Europe, according to a new joint OECD/European Commission report.

Italy is slowly emerging from a deep and lengthy recession, helped by a range of structural reforms – such as the Jobs Act – and accommodative monetary and fiscal policies, according to a new OECD report.

Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) are commonly used to convert national currencies to a common unit. The main novel feature in the 2017 report is the collection of comparable and output-based prices for hospital services that can then be applied to matching health accounts expenditure data so as to derive consistent price and volume comparisons of health and hospital goods and services consumed.

World Health Summit 2017: OECD presenting on Big Data

This document revises the OECD's statistical definition of biotechnology, which had last been reviewed in 2008, and proposes the adoption of a statistical definition of nanotechnology in the same format.

Evaluation and assessment policies are key in Australia’s national school reform agenda. The Australian approach combines the development of goals, monitoring and reporting at national level with local evaluation and assessment practices shaped by jurisdiction-level school improvement frameworks

Asia’s pension systems need modernising urgently to deliver secure, sustainable and adequate retirement incomes for today’s workers in the context of the rapid population ageing that will occur over the next two decades, according to a new OECD report.

Australia’s enforcement of its foreign bribery laws has been extremely low, with just a single case leading to prosecutions out of 28 referrals in 13 years. Cases may have been closed prematurely. Australia must vigorously pursue foreign bribery allegations.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Sydney from 21 to 23 February 2014 to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings. While in Sydney, the Secretary-General launched the 2014 OECD Going for Growth report, alongside Mr. Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey, Treasurer of Australia.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Sydney from 17 to 20 July 2014 to attend the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting.

Mr. Angel Gurría was in Brisbane to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit on 15-16 November. Prior to the Summit, the Secretary-General attended a G20 Finance Ministers Meeting, as well as L20 and B20 meetings.

Levels of alcohol consumption in Australia are close to the OECD average. After a decrease from 1980 to 1992, consumption has rebounded to some extent. In 2011, 10 litres of pure alcohol per capita were consumed in Australia, on average, compared with an estimate of 9.5 litres in 2011 in the OECD.

Biographical note of Australia's Permanent Representative to the OECD.

Australia has been successful at reducing the mortality due to cardiovascular diseases. The mortality from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has decreased over the past 50 years at a faster pace than the OECD average, reaching 208 per 100 000 population, 30% lower than the OECD average of 299 in 2011.

Australia should provide early access to more intensive employment services for disadvantaged laid-off workers to help them find a new job more quickly, according to a new OECD report.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today the first 10 outcomes of a new and enhanced peer review process aimed at assessing compliance with international standards for the exchange of information on request between tax authorities.

Australia has stepped up its enforcement of foreign bribery since 2012, when the OECD Working Group on Bribery last evaluated Australia’s implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, with seven convictions in two cases and 19 ongoing investigations.

This note presents marginal effective tax rates (METRs) that summarise the tax system’s impact on the incentives to make an additional investment in a particular type of savings. By comparing METRs on different types of household savings, we can gain insights into which assets or savings types receive the most favourable treatment from the tax system.

The Co-operative Research Programme (CRP)'s Call for Applications for conference sponsorship and research fellowships for funding in 2019 is now CLOSED. The CRP supports work on sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, forests, fisheries and food production.

This country note explains how Australia taxes energy use. The note shows the distribution of effective energy tax rates across all domestic energy use. It also details the country-specific assumptions made when calculating effective energy tax rates and matching tax rates to the corresponding energy base.

Gold Reserves in Ukraine remained unchanged at 24.57 Tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 24.57 Tonnes in the third quarter of 2019. Gold Reserves in Ukraine averaged 25.03 Tonnes from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 42.61 Tonnes in the first quarter of 2014 and a record low of 13.40 Tonnes in the first quarter of 2000. Gold Reserves are country’s gold assets held or controlled by the central bank. This page provides - Ukraine Gold Reserves - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Ukraine is ranked 64 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings. The rank of Ukraine improved to 64 in 2019 from 71 in 2018. Ease of Doing Business in Ukraine averaged 108.33 from 2008 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 152 in 2011 and a record low of 64 in 2019. The Ease of doing business index ranks countries against each other based on how the regulatory environment is conducive to business operationstronger protections of property rights. Economies with a high rank (1 to 20) have simpler and more friendly regulations for businesses. This page includes a chart with historical data for Ease of Doing Business in Ukraine.

Ukraine recorded 14710 Coronavirus Cases since the epidemic began, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Ukraine reported 361 Coronavirus Deaths. This page includes a chart with historical data for Ukraine Coronavirus Cases.

The Phase 3 Report on Japan by the OECD Working Group on Bribery evaluates and makes recommendations on Japan'simplementation and application of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related instruments.

On the occasion of his visit, Angel Gurría presented the brochure "Policies for a revitalisation of Japan" and met with government and business representatives.

OECD Secretary-General will visit Japan on 22-24 April to launch the Economic Survey of Japan. During his stay in Tokyo, Mr. Gurría will also meet government officials and representatives from the business and labour communities amongst others.

Japan is poised for an economic expansion, but long-term growth prospects remain contingent on additional efforts to revitalise the economy and reduce unsustainable levels of public debt, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Japan.

Firstly, and most importantly, this year marks Japan’s golden jubilee: 50 years as a member of the OECD. Japan was our first Asia-Pacific member country, and has paved the way to strengthen the OECD’s ties within the region. This year, for the second time, Japan is chairing our Ministerial Council Meeting – the most important annual decision-making event of the Organization, said Angel Gurría.

Mr. Angel Gurría was in Japan from 6 to 10 April 2014 to commemorate the country’s 50th anniversary of membership of the Organisation. The OECD Secretary-General was received in Audience by Crown Prince Naruhito, and held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Abe, to whom he presented the report “OECD Better Policies Japan - Advancing the Third Arrow for a Resilient Economy and Inclusive Growth”.

The OECD has now grown into an institution of truly global relevance. And Japan, which was the first Asian country to join the organisation, is now a world economic giant. It is a great honour to introduce the Chairman of the 2014 Ministerial Council Meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Due to serious concerns about the extremely low level of enforcement of Japan’s offence of bribing foreign public officials – just three prosecutions since 1999 – the OECD Working Group on Bribery recommended in December 2013 that Japan establish an Action Plan to organise police and prosecution resources to be able to proactively detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery by Japanese companies.

Eight giant balloons from Japan floated in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower this weekend, a reminder of one of the worst natural disasters of recent times – and of the determination of survivors to rebuild their region.