Although Belgium performs relatively well in terms of level of resistance for most bacteria under surveillance by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC, 2017), the incidence rate of hospital-acquired antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus infections is relatively high (Vrijens et al., Amenable mortality rates in Belgium are among the lowest in EU countries, owing in part to low and decreasing mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Relatively high and increasing survival rates for people admitted to hospital for a heart attack or stroke and for people diagnosed with different types of cancer indicate that the health care system is effective in treating people with life-threatening conditions.