INDICATORS

SWEDEN
Data availability by Country Report: 78% of ECHI shortlist indicators are available
in international data sources. Data availability is quite good in all ECHI shortlist
sections.
Data availability by ECHIM Survey: 81% of ECHIM Survey indicators are available
at a national level. All requested Health status indicators are available.
Data availability in European context: Data availability in Sweden is higher than
European average. Also data quality must be considered good, since most data come
from registers. The registers cover the entire population since many years, and can be
combined with other information using the national PIDs. Statistics Sweden regularly
has performed health interview surveys as part of a national survey on living conditions.
The design of this survey has recently been changed in order to adapt to the SILC
format. There are no nationally representative health examination survey data available,
but the situation is quite similar in most European countries.
Overall situation of data sources: The main data sources in Sweden are registers and
health surveys. Register data and survey data can be linked using a unique identification
number. Currently it is not clear when Sweden will perform a health interview survey
using the EHIS instrument.
Health reporting: The National Board of Health and Welfare (www.socialstyrelsen.se),
a governmental agency of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, is responsible for
national health reporting. The last public health status report was published in 2008
(summary available in English), the last comprehensive national public health report
in 2005 (available online in English). A new comprehensive report will be published
in early 2009 and a translation will be available during the Swedish presidency later
in 2009. The National Board also publishes annual and comprehensive reports on
health care and environmental health. In addition, The National Institute for Public
Health (www.fhi.se) publishes a comprehensive report on public health policy. A new
comprehensive report will be published in early 2009. In addition a great number of
topic specific analytical reports are available online.
Main problems: Swedish health monitoring is based on an established set of instruments
and measures. The integration of the EHIS instrument would lead to a break in the
existing time series which would pose a problem for the analysis of time trends.
Ongoing and/or expected improvements: Preparations of the integration of EHIS are
currently under way.
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