In 2018, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies produced a report on organization and financing of public health services in Europe. Each country chapter captured the historical background of public health services and the context in which they operate; sets out the main organizational structures; assesses the sources of public health financing and how it is allocated; explains the training and employment of the public health workforce; and analyses existing frameworks for quality and performance assessment. The study revealed a wide range of experience and variation across Europe and clearly illustrates two fundamentally different approaches to public health services: integration with curative health services as in Slovenia or Sweden or organization and provision through a separate parallel structure such as in the Republic of Moldova. The case studies explore the context that explain this divergence and its implications.
