Study: Slashing Air Pollution Could Add Two Years to Your Life — Autoblog Green

The three-year probe, called Aphekom and funded by the European Union (EU), examined 25 cities in 12 EU countries and found that fine particulates emitted from the exhaust of vehicles create significant health problems and are associated with the loss of up to 19,000 lives per year throughout Europe. In addition, the study claims that curbing roadside air pollution could save European cities 31.5 billion euros ($43.4 billion U.S. at the current exchange rate) in health-related costs and missed work, while also increasing life expectancy by nearly two years.
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EU Will Begin to Monitor National Pension Systems

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Many countries in Europe are trying to strategically plan for baby boomers by adjusting their pension systems. Spain is the most recent to take on these measures, as the country raised the retirement age from 65 to 67.

Now, the European Union (EU) has agreed to monitor the pension systems of each country to ensure that they are being managed correctly and efficiently, reports IFAOnline.
 
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Multinational Comparisons of Health Systems Data, 2009 - The Commonwealth Fund

by Gerard F. Anderson and Patricia Markovich

International comparisons of health care systems offer valuable tools to health ministers, policymakers, and academics wishing to evaluate the performance of their country's system. In this chartbook, data collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)is used to compare health care systems and performance on a range of topics, including spending, hospitals, physicians, pharmaceuticals, prevention, and mortality. We present data across several industrialized countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy , the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Whenever possible, the authors present the median value of all 30 members of the OECD.
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Poverty Risks For Older People In EU Countries An Update

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from Medical News Today

This Policy Brief provides the latest evidence on how EU countries differ in terms of poverty risks for older people (aged 65 years and over).

Results using the latest EU-SILC data for 2008 show that, on average, older people face a higher poverty risk rate than the total population: the rate for older people was 19% as opposed to rate for the total population of 17%.

The highest poverty risk rates were observed in Latvia (51%), Cyprus (49%), Estonia (39%) and Bulgaria (34%).

The lowest in Hungary (4%), Luxembourg (5%) and the Czech Republic (7%).

Three country groupings can be distinguished from these results: ten countries with lower-than-average poverty risk rates for older people (16% or less), nine countries with close-to-average poverty risk rates (18-23%) and another eight countries with higher-than-average poverty risk rates (>25%). No single explanation can be meaningfully employed to explain this differentiation across the three groupings of countries. That said, countries with low poverty risk rates for older people generally have a good social safety net in the form of a basic pension (e.g. the Netherlands) and/or they offer strong redistribution in the earnings-related contributory pension schemes in the form of minimum guaranteed pensions (e.g. Austria).

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