Expenditure on prevention and health promotion by service

The indicator shows the percentage share of PHP expenditure in total health cost expenditure in Switzerland. It also shows PHP expenditure by service category. The data are updated annually.

The indicator is calculated on the basis of the Federal Statistical Office’s (FSO) “Health care costs and financing statistics”. The statistics present a synthesis of all available figures for an estimation of the monetary flows associated with the production, consumption and financing of goods and services of the Swiss health system during one year. The expenditure includes both material and personnel costs. For this indicator, the monetary flows for the category "Prevention" are analysed. The sub-category "Tests" is not included.

The range of prevention and health promotion services in Switzerland is broad and very diverse:

• Addiction: This category includes services for early diagnosis, advice, treatment and harm reduction with regard to alcohol, drugs or medication.
• Mental health, health care in schools: This category includes on the one hand services that raise awareness of mental health problems and on the other hand the organisation of preventive measures in the school setting such as dental check-ups, vision and hearing tests, and vaccination monitoring.
• Accidents and injuries: This category encompasses services to prevent occupational accidents and diseases as well as non-occupational accidents or recreational accidents.
• Physical activity and nutrition: This category refers to the cantonal action programmes (KAP) of Health Promotion Switzerland to promote a balanced diet, sufficient physical activity and the improved mental health of children, adolescents and older people. 
• Awareness among the population/target groups: This category refers to awareness, information, support etc. among the population and target groups in various fields related to many different diseases.
• Vaccination programmes: This category includes bacteriological examinations, vaccination campaigns, disinfection, epidemiology, disease control, occupational medicine/hygiene, medication, subsidies to institutions (e.g. Cancer or Rheumatism League). 
• Other prevention: This category includes civil services that cannot be classified in another category.

Since 2023, the statistics have been aligned with the Systems of Health Accounts methodology (SHA: OECD, 2017). The data have been recalculated with retrospective effect and are therefore different to earlier versions of this indicator. Further harmonization with the SHA methodology in the future cannot be excluded.

Switzerland’s 26 cantons finance their own prevention and health promotion independently. There is no uniformly applied definition as to what comes under prevention or health promotion. This makes it difficult to assign data in a uniform manner to the different service categories. For this reason, PHP expenditure can only be estimated approximately.

• Federal Statistical Office (FSO): Costs and financing of the health care system (by service and funding scheme, in German and French)
• Federal Statistical Office (FSO): STAT-TAB - interactive tables (FSO): Costs and financing of health care by service provider, service, mode of provision and financing scheme

• OECD, Eurostat and World Health Organization (2017), A System of Health Accounts 2011: Revised edition, OECD Publishing, Paris: Publication (englisch).

• Gmeinder, M. et al. (2017): How much do OECD countries spend on prevention?, OECD Health Working Papers, No. 101, DOI: 10.1787/f19e803c-en: Study.