Citation

de Bekker-Grob EW, Polder JJ, Mackenbach JP, Meerding WJ. BMC Public Health 2007; 7(1): 252.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1471-2458-7-252

PMID

17883834

PMCID

PMC2071917

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Comprehensive information about national spending on prevention is crucial for health policy development and evaluation. This study provides a comprehensive overview of prevention spending in the Netherlands, including those activities beyond the national health accounts. METHODS: National spending on health-related primary and secondary preventive measures was examined by funding source with the use of national statistics, government reports, sector reports, and data from individual health associations and corporations, public services, occupational health services, and personal prevention. Costs were broken down by diseases, age groups and gender using population attributable risks and other key variables. RESULTS: Total expenditures on prevention were 12.5 billion euro or 769 euro per capita in the Netherlands in 2003, of which 20% was included in the national health accounts. 82% was spent on health protection, 16% on disease prevention, and 2% on health promotion activities. Most of the spending was aimed at the prevention of infectious diseases (34%) and acute physical injuries (29%). Per capita spending on prevention increased steeply by age. CONCLUSION: Total expenditures on health related prevention are much higher than normally reported due to the inclusion of health protection measures beyond the national health accounts. The allocative efficiency of prevention spending, particularly the high costs of health protection and the low costs of health promotion activities, should be assessed with information on their relative cost effectiveness.

Language: en