Ireland is second from bottom of health in Europe

Indicators of overall population health in the Republic of Ireland include risk factors such as smoking,

alcohol consumption An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

and obesity; each of which tend towards rates higher than the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

average.

Health indicators

There have been dramatic reductions in mortality from the three principal causes of death in Ireland - heart disease, cancer and stroke - in recent years age-standardised mortality rate for heart disease has fallen by 59% between 1990-2011 and now stands just above the OECD rate at 136 deaths per 100,000 population per annum. Similarly, the age-standardised mortality rate for stroke has fallen by 51% in the same period to below the OECD average (61 deaths from stroke per 100,000 population per annum). Deaths from cancer have fallen by 21% between 1990-2011 to 217 per 100,000. First-World-Infant-Mortality-Trends

In 2005: * 47.6% of Ireland's population were covered by private health insurance, and 31.9% of the population were covered by Medical Cards. * 23.8% of the population over 16 had a ''"chronic illness or health problem"''. * 19.6% of the population over 16 had ''"limited activity"'', of which 6.6% were ''"strongly limited"'' and 13.0% were ''"limited"''. * 47.2% of the population over 16 described their health as ''"very good"'', 35.7% as ''"good"'', 13.5% as ''"fair"'' and only 3.6% as ''"bad"'' or ''"very bad"''. * 24.9% of the population over 16 were classed as smokers. * There were 53 publicly funded acute hospitals, with a total of 12,094 in-patient beds available and 1,253-day beds available. A new measure of expected

human capital Human capital is a concept used by social scientists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a substantial ...

calculated for 195 countries from 1990 to 2016 and defined for each birth cohort as the expected years lived from age 20 to 64 years and adjusted for educational attainment, learning or education quality, and functional health status was published by

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

in September 2018. Ireland had the sixteenth highest level of expected human capital with 24 health, education, and learning-adjusted expected years lived between age 20 and 64 years.

Vaccination

In the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, childhood vaccination (up to age 16) requires the consent of the parents. The Department of Health strongly recommend vaccinations.

References

{{Europe topic, Health in