B. Garros, REGIONAL HEALTH OBSERVATORIES - STRUCTURE S, ORGANIZATIONS, MISSIONS, Bulletin de l'Academie nationale de medecine, 179(5), 1995, pp. 941-950
The ORS were established at the beginning of 1980's to improve and to
promote health informations to help decision makers. The ORS are non-p
rofit making institutions supported by Health Ministry and local autho
rities. They also conclude contracts with private or public partners.
A national federation exist since 1988. The ORS use a lot of scientifi
c technics but have the constant preoccupation to adapt their communic
ation for decision makers and non specialised public. From 1989 to 199
4, more than 900 works have been published on a large variety of topic
s. In 1994, all of the ORS produced a << regional dashboard on health
>> according to a pattern elaborated by their national federation. In
each region, these documents present most of the available indicators
on health and social reality. So, the ORS associate local and national
points of view.