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Europeans live longer, but extra years are not always spent in good health

Nov 23, 2016 | News

(23 November 2016) – “Health at a Glance: Europe 2016” European Commission/OECD joint report shows that policies that aim at promoting good health and preventing diseases as well as more effective healthcare could save lives and billions of euros in the European Union.

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Life expectancy now exceeds 80 years in most EU countries, reveals “Health at a Glance: Europe 2016”, a European Commission/OECD joint report, published today.

However, this record-high life expectancy is not always matched by healthy life years. Around 50 million people in the EU suffer from several chronic diseases, and more than half a million people of working age die from them every year, representing an annual cost of some 115 billion EUR for EU economies.

For more key figures see infograph.

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