Geographical Locations - Switzerland

• (Statistical) Number of Inhabitants per Doctor: 630
• CIA World Factbook : Switzerland

Organisations and Networks

UN and Multinational

• WHO
  - WHO Country Profile -Switzerland
  - WHO - Tobacco control: Country Profile: Switzerland
  - WHO - Environmental Burden of Disease: Country Profile – Switzerland

Government

• Swiss Federal Statistical Office

Non-Government

• CSS - Centrale Sanitaire Suisse, Zürich - Politische Solidarität durch medizinische Hilfe ( French & German )
• Green Cross : Switzerland
• AIDSNet.ch - the portal to HIV/AIDS information "designed for people working in HIV/AIDS prevention, people living with HIV/AIDS and all those interested in the matter."
• HON - Health On the Net Foundation, Geneva - a non-profit organisation. Its mission is to build and support the international health and medical community on the Internet and World-Wide Web so that the potential benefits of this new communications medium may be realised by individuals, medical professionals and health care providers
• Impuls - Selbsthilfeorganisation von behinderten und nichtbehinderten Menschen - a self-help organisation of disabled and non-disabled people
• MMS - Medicus Mundi Switzerland - The Swiss Organisation for International Cooperation in Health Care - a rich resource on international training programs in public health and the Swiss public health system
• SwissWeb de la Prevention - l'Arcade virtuelle ZAPPING PREVENTION© pour la gestion promotionnelle de la santé, du bien-être et de la qualité de la vie
• VIRUS - Verein für interaktive Randgruppenarbeit und Suchtproblematik - located in the City of Basel, an organisation aiming at minority groups and (illegal) drug users

Academic Institutions

• University of Basel
  - Institut für Sozial- und Präventivmedizin
  - Swiss Tropical Institute
• University of Berne,
  - Institute for Medical Education
• University of Geneva
• University of Lausanne
  University of Zürich,
  - Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
  - Institute of Social Ethics - still in German, but an English version is announced

National Policy and Related Documents

• Federal Strategy "Migration and Public Health 2008 – 2013" (Switzerland)
  "The aim of the national Migration and Health programme is to improve the health-related behaviour and the overall health of the migrant population in Switzerland. Measures taken in the area of public health must include migrants as part of their focus, otherwise they will fail to reach an important segment of their target public – with ensuing cost implications."

Reports, Guidelines, and Projects

• Primary care physician supply and other key determinants of health care utilisation: The case of Switzerland
  "The Swiss government decided to freeze new accreditations for physicians in private practice in Switzerland based on the assumption that demand-induced health care spending may be cut by limiting care offers. This legislation initiated an ongoing controversial public debate in Switzerland. The aim of this study is therefore the determination of socio-demographic and health system-related factors of per capita consultation rates with primary care physicians in the multicultural population of Switzerland..." The study documents a large small-area variation in utilisation and provision of health care resources in Switzerland. Effects of physician density appeared to be strongly related to Swiss language regions and may be rooted in the different cultural backgrounds of the served populations.
• The Swiss and Dutch Health Insurance Systems: Universal Coverage and Regulated Competitive Insurance Markets
  As the United States resumes debate over options for achieving universal health coverage, policymakers are once again examining insurance systems in other industrialized countries. More recent attention has focused on countries that combine universal coverage with private insurance and regulated market competition. Switzerland and the Netherlands, in particular, have drawn attention for their use of individual mandates combined with public oversight of insurance markets. This paper provides an overview of the Swiss and Dutch insurance systems, which embody some of the same concepts that have guided health reforms adopted in Massachusetts and considered by other states and by federal policymakers. The two systems have many features in common: an individual mandate, standardized basic benefits, a tightly regulated insurance market, and funding schemes that make coverage affordable for low- and middle-income families. Differences include degree of centralization, basis of competition among insurers, availability of managed care, and reliance on patient cost-sharing to influence care-seeking behavior. [author abstract] [The Commonwealth Fund, January 2009]
• What about the health of migrant population groups?: The most important results of the "Monitoring on the migrant population's state of health in Switzerland"
  "This publication summarises in the first part findings generated by the study 'Monitoring on the migrant population's state of health in Switzerland (GMM)', which was carried out in 2004 on the basis of the Swiss health survey. The second part of the publication presents the main results deriving from a data analysis of the GMM data which seeks to identify the factors responsible for the migrants' frequently poorer health situation."

Educational Resources

• CDC - Travel Information : Western Europe
• EXPOLIS - Air Pollution Exposure Distributions of Adult Urban Populations in Europe - Basel