Strengthening of occupational health promotion by the German Prevention Health Care Act

摘要

All countries are faced with the problem of the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCD): implement prevention strategies effectively, keep up the momentum with long term benefits at the individual and the population level, at the same time tackling health inequalities. The affordability of therapy and care including innovative therapies is going to be one of the key public health priorities in the years to come. Germany has taken in the prevention and control of NCDs. Germany's health system has a long history of guaranteeing access to high-quality treatment through universal health care coverage. Through their membership people are entitled to prevention and care services maintaining and restoring their health as well as long term follow-up. Like in many other countries general life expectancy has been increasing steadily in Germany. Currently, the average life expectancy is 83 and 79 years in women and men, respectively. The other side of the coin is that population aging is strongly associated with a growing burden of disease from NCDs. Already over 70 percent of all deaths in Germany are caused by four disease entities: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. These diseases all share four common risk factors: smoking, alcohol abuse, lack of physical activity and overweight. At the same time, more and more people become long term survivors of disease due to improved therapy and care.