This chapter presents indicators related to the resilience of health systems. The resilience of health systems involves distinct functions: preparing to avoid shocks, absorbing and recovering from them, and then adapting systems. The indicators in this chapter partially cover all these functions. The COVID‑19 pandemic is the largest shock many health systems have faced. The response of health systems to it offers insights into their resilience. Those responses included the pivot to new methods of safely delivering health care with a doubling of the share of teleconsultations, and the rapid and widespread delivery of vaccinations. Vaccinations were estimated to have prevented over 250 000 deaths across the EU during the first year of vaccination. During the pandemic, the response of health systems required adaptability. The scale of change was uneven across EU countries. Vaccination ranged from less than half to almost all people aged at least 60 years. Countries should use the experience gained since 2020, including these indicators, to guide their adaption of health systems to strengthen resilience. COVID‑19 is not the only shock that health systems will likely face: climate change, armed conflict and anti-microbial resistance are other challenges that will require resilience.
Health at a Glance: Europe 2022
State of Health in the EU Cycle
Health at a Glance: Europe
