Tag Archives: health

In response to the increased spread of the novel Coronavirus Switzerland’s health authority has issued new hygiene advice, which includes avoiding hand shakes. © Rido | Dreamstime.comThis additional measure was added recently along with two others: dispose of used paper tissues in a sealed waste bin and always call ahead before going to the doctor’s or the emergency department. The government campaign ‘Protect yourself and others’ tells you how you can apply basic hygiene rules and...

Watches & Wonders Geneva is the former Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) that takes place every year in the Swiss city. (Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi) The organisers of Watches & Wonders Geneva – the former Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) – have cancelled their annual watch fair due to take place from April 25-29, amid fears over the new coronavirus outbreak. The organisers said in a statementexternal link published on...

For school pupils in canton Valais, skiing could soon be part of the curriculum under plans to create three obligatory snow sports days a year, the NZZ am Sonntag reports. © Corepics Vof | Dreamstime.comChristophe Darbellay, the canton’s education minister, wants to get young people back on skis to ensure the future of the sport, which generated CHF 758 million in Switzerland from lift passes alone in 2018/19. The project, which will cost CHF 2.7 million, has been approved by the...

A commission for the canton of Geneva’s government supports a tax on added sugar to fight obesity, according to the newspaper Le Temps.  © Lightpoet | Dreamstime.comBertrand Buchs and Delphine Bachmann, two elected officials active in the medical sector, are behind the initiative. The text required to implement the tax, which takes aim at added sugar, is likely to be put to a government vote in March 2020. The money collected would be spent on raising awareness of the damaging health...

The tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI) has unveiled plans to cut jobs at its sites in Lausanne and Neuchâtel. © Vitezslav Vylicil | Dreamstime.comA total of around 265 jobs are likely to go. Most of them will be transferred to the UK, Portugal and Poland. The company has opened formal processes in both cantons and those affected will be informed between now and the end of March 2020, it said. The company said its restructuring plans are part of its strategy to focus...

The greatest increase in concern has been about radiation from mobile phone antennas, such as this one in Zurich, and high-voltage power lines (Keystone) Dirt, noise, radiation, climate, loss of species: the Swiss population believes that environmental pollution has increased and continues to increase. Some 61% perceive this as a very serious or quite serious problem. In 2015, only 39% were so pessimistic. Well-being and satisfaction have declined in all areas – in...

© Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com In 2017, an average Swiss resident visited a medical professional 4.32 times, according to data recently published by Eurostat. Only residents of Denmark (4.30), Sweden (2.77) and Cyprus (2.09) went to see a doctor less often. The average number of visits across those European countries with 2017 data was 6.84. Countries with the highest frequency were Hungary (10.9), Slovakia (10.9), Germany (9.9), Lithuania (9.5) and Liechtenstein...

In 2017, an average Swiss resident visited a medical professional 4.32 times, according to data recently published by Eurostat. © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.comOnly residents of Denmark (4.30), Sweden (2.77) and Cyprus (2.09) went to see a doctor less often. The average number of visits across those European countries with 2017 data was 6.84. Countries with the highest frequency were Hungary (10.9), Slovakia (10.9), Germany (9.9), Lithuania (9.5) and Liechtenstein (9.0)....

© Aris Suwanmalee | Dreamstime.com Around one hospital in ten in Switzerland could end up in financial difficultly, according to a report by PWC. In addition, 37 of the 44 hospitals surveyed will not be profitable enough to remain competitive over the next five to ten years, predict the authors of the report. The shift towards more outpatient care instead of more expensive hospitalisation is still a work in progress. Substantial disincentives to make the shift have...

Around one hospital in ten in Switzerland could end up in financial difficultly, according to a report by PWC. © Aris Suwanmalee | Dreamstime.comIn addition, 37 of the 44 hospitals surveyed will not be profitable enough to remain competitive over the next five to ten years, predict the authors of the report. The shift towards more outpatient care instead of more expensive hospitalisation is still a work in progress. Substantial disincentives to make the shift have not been eliminated...