The major causes of deaths in Finland are cardiovascular diseases, malignant tumors, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, respiratory diseases, alcohol related diseases and accidental poisoning by alcohol. [1] In 2010, the leading causes of death among men aged 15 to 64 were alcohol-related deaths, ischaemic heart disease, accident, suicides, lung cancer and cerebrovascular diseases. [2] Among women the leading causes were breast cancer, alcohol-related deaths, accidents, suicides, ischemic heart disease and lung cancer. [3]
Finland is well known for its high-quality healthcare. Public health services are available to everyone who lives in the country. Finland has both public health services and private health care services. The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health supports the welfare of people in Finland via social and health services and by ensuring income security. [4] Local governments and municipalities are responsible for organising good social and health care services for their residents.
Finnish healthcare focuses on disease prevention and health promotion. Preventative healthcare is provided for different age groups, such as maternal healthcare for pregnant women, and care for newborn babies and children until school age. School healthcare is offered to school-aged children, as well as student healthcare to youths and young students. In Finland, it is required that employers offer healthcare services to their workers. [5] Organised and comprehensive disease prevention and health promotion is one of the key factors for a well-functioning system and the health outcomes are good.
Finland has high-quality specialised medical care, which is usually provided at hospitals. The most demanding treatment is provided in five hospital districts, which are University Hospitals of Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Oulu and Kuopio. Every healthcare professional is either a licensed professional or professional with a protected occupational title. This means that the individual healthcare professional has a license to work due to completing a training programme in the relevant legislation and decrees. [6]
A new measure of expected human capital calculated for 195 countries from 1990 to 2016 was published by The Lancet in September 2018. Finland had the highest level of expected human capital: 28·4 health, education, and learning-adjusted expected years lived between age 20 and 64 years. [7]
The total annual alcohol consumption has risen from 7.6 litres (in 1985) to 10.0 litres of 100% alcohol equivalent per capita in 2010. There has been a small reduction in alcohol consumption in recent years. Alcohol use is highest in the Northern Finland with 10.9 litres and lowest at the Åland Islands with 5.7 litres per person. [8] Although the rate of consumption is average when compared to other western countries, binge drinking, especially amongst teenagers, has remained as a characteristic of Finnish drinking habits. [9] Finland has a national alcohol programme to reduce the long-term effects of alcohol consumption. The World Health Organization has published a list of countries by alcohol consumption.
Smoking among adults has shown a marked decline over the past thirty years in most OECD countries. Much of this decline can be attributed to policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption through public awareness campaigns, advertising bans and increased taxation. Smoking in Finland has reduced, and now the smoking rates among adults in Finland in 2009 stood at 18.6%, lower than the OECD average of 22.3%. [10]
Drug use is not a major public health problem in Finland. The most commonly used drug is cannabis. According to a study from 2008, the percentage of the population aged 15 to 69 who had at some point in their lives tried cannabis was 13%; 3% of the population had used cannabis within the previous 12 months. [11]
Overweight and obesity are common in Finland. Half of all adults are overweight, and every fifth adult is obese. The weight of men has increased since the 1970s, in women since the 1980s. Among the Nordic countries, Finland ranks the highest in a percentage of adults who are overweight. In comparison to other European countries, Finland is slightly above the average but overweight is still more common in Southern Europe and Great Britain. Overweight among children and adolescents has also become widespread. The number of overweight 12- to 18-year-olds has nearly tripled in the past four decades. 10% of boys and 15% of girls in preschool were overweight in a follow-up from 2007 to 2009. [12]
HIV/AIDS is not a major public health concern in Finland. The prevalence among adult population on 2009 was 0.1%. [13] HIV/AIDS is much more common in other European countries than in Finland. It had the lowest rate of death from communicable diseases in Europe (9 per 100,000) in 2015. [14]
The most significant public health problems are currently circulatory diseases, cancer, musculoskeletal diseases and mental health problems. Emerging problems are obesity, chronic lung diseases and type 2 diabetes. [15] 300,000 Finns are diagnosed with diabetes. Approximately 200,000 suffer from type 2 diabetes unknowingly and many more have prediabetes. The number of people with diabetes is estimated to double in 10 years.[ as of? ] Most of these cases could be prevented with healthy lifestyles, i.e. sufficient level of physical activity, obtaining normal weight and eating healthy. [16]
Major causes of deaths in Finland are cardiovascular diseases, malignant tumours, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, respiratory diseases, alcohol-related diseases and accidental poisoning by alcohol. [17] In 2010, the leading causes of death among men aged 15 to 64 were alcohol-related deaths, ischaemic heart disease, accident, suicides, lung cancer and cerebrovascular diseases. [2] Among women the leading causes were breast cancer, alcohol-related deaths, accidents, suicides, ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer. [3]
Suicide mortality in Finland has generally been one of the highest in Europe, but it has decreased to 18 per 100,000 population in 2005. One reason for this may be the large national suicide prevention project which was carried out between 1986 and 1996. [15] The World Health Organization has compiled a list of countries by suicide rate. There is a high level of education of mental health workers in Finland and several effective mental health programs have been conducted in at-risk groups. [18]
One of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) targets is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, by 2030.
Finland is one of the countries that has achieved the lowest maternal mortality ratio. After 2010, only three mothers die annually for every 100,000 births. [19]
The proposed SDG target for aims to end, by 2030, preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 deaths per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 deaths per 1,000 live births.
In Finland, the mortality of under 5 years of age was 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, and 2.3 in 2021, and under 1 year of age it was 5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 and 1.8 in 2021. [20]
1990 | 2021 | |
---|---|---|
Under-5 | 6.8 | 2.3 |
Under-1 | 5.7 | 1.8 |
Life expectancy at birth was 81.5 in Finland in 2021. Among males the life expectancy was 79 and among females 84.1. [21]
In Finland, there is a comprehensive national vaccination program. Child health clinics, school healthcare and local health centers offer vaccinations against 12 different diseases for every child, free of charge. HPV vaccines were given first to girls, but as of 2020, HPV vaccines are also offered to boys. For adults, the vaccination program recommends giving booster doses of tetanus and diphtheria on a set schedule, and other vaccines as boosters if necessary. [22] Free influenza vaccines are offered every year for vulnerable groups and those at risk. [23] In 2009, the rotavirus vaccination was introduced and added to the national vaccination program. Before that, rotaviruses caused many outbreaks of diarrhea every year. Over 11,000 children under 5 years old required healthcare services such as hospitalisations and outpatient visits during the biggest outbreaks. [24]
Vaccination program by age for children and adults |
---|
DTaP-IPV-Hib
DTaP-IPV-Hib
DTaP-IPV-Hib
(recommended to be given at 12 moths of age)
(only for the children who have not had chicken box before)
DTaP-IPV
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health are responsible for decision-making regarding the vaccination program. [25] THL keeps track of the vaccination coverage within different age and risk groups in Finland, by maintaining a national vaccination register where data is retrieved from patient record systems. The national vaccination program is one of the biggest reason that many communicable diseases have almost fully disappeared from the country. [26] [27]
In 2024, the vaccination coverage among young children born in 2021 was nearly 98 per cent. Around 95 per cent within the same age group have also been vaccinated against rubella, measles and mumps. [28] The data shows that most of the children in Finland have started the 5-in-1 vaccination series. [27] [28] The accurate coverage of vaccinations might be even higher than the data shows and therefore there is still improvement to be made with regional data collection. [28]
Influenza vaccines, colloquially known as flu shots or the flu jab, are vaccines that protect against infection by influenza viruses. New versions of the vaccines are developed twice a year, as the influenza virus rapidly changes. While their effectiveness varies from year to year, most provide modest to high protection against influenza. Vaccination against influenza began in the 1930s, with large-scale availability in the United States beginning in 1945.
India's population in 2021 as per World Bank is 1.39 billion. Being the world's most populous country and one of its fastest-growing economies, India experiences both challenges and opportunities in context of public health. India is a hub for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; world-class scientists, clinical trials and hospitals yet country faces daunting public health challenges like child undernutrition, high rates of neonatal and maternal mortality, growth in noncommunicable diseases, high rates of road traffic accidents and other health related issues.
A vaccination schedule is a series of vaccinations, including the timing of all doses, which may be either recommended or compulsory, depending on the country of residence. A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to produce active immunity to a disease, in order to prevent or reduce the effects of infection by any natural or "wild" pathogen. Vaccines go through multiple phases of trials to ensure safety and effectiveness.
A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by state or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or schools. Many policies have been developed and implemented since vaccines were first made widely available.
Healthcare in Europe is provided through a wide range of different systems run at individual national levels. Most European countries have a system of tightly regulated, competing private health insurance companies, with government subsidies available for citizens who cannot afford coverage. Many European countries offer their citizens a European Health Insurance Card which, on a reciprocal basis, provides insurance for emergency medical treatment insurance when visiting other participating European countries.
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Australia is a high income country, and this is reflected in the good status of health of the population overall. In 2011, Australia ranked 2nd on the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index, indicating the level of development of a country. Despite the overall good status of health, the disparities occurring in the Australian healthcare system are a problem. The poor and those living in remote areas as well as indigenous people are, in general, less healthy than others in the population, and programs have been implemented to decrease this gap. These include increased outreach to the indigenous communities and government subsidies to provide services for people in remote or rural areas.
Healthcare in Finland consists of a highly decentralized three-level publicly funded healthcare system and a much smaller private sector. Although the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has the highest decision-making authority, specific healthcare precincts are responsible for providing healthcare to their residents as of 2023.
Pandemrix is an influenza vaccine for influenza pandemics, such as the 2009 flu pandemic. The vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and patented in September 2006.
Preventable causes of death are causes of death related to risk factors which could have been avoided. The World Health Organization has traditionally classified death according to the primary type of disease or injury. However, causes of death may also be classified in terms of preventable risk factors—such as smoking, unhealthy diet, sexual behavior, and reckless driving—which contribute to a number of different diseases. Such risk factors are usually not recorded directly on death certificates, although they are acknowledged in medical reports.
Niger is a landlocked country located in West Africa and has Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Algeria as its neighboring countries. Niger was French territory that got its independence in 1960 and its official language is French. Niger has an area of 1.267 million square kilometres, nevertheless, 80% of its land area spreads through the Sahara Desert.
In precolonial Ghana, infectious diseases were the main cause of morbidity and mortality. The modern history of health in Ghana was heavily influenced by international actors such as Christian missionaries, European colonists, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. In addition, the democratic shift in Ghana spurred healthcare reforms in an attempt to address the presence of infectious and noncommunicable diseases eventually resulting in the formation of the National Health insurance Scheme in place today.
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A new measure of expected human capital calculated for 195 countries from 1990 to 2016 and defined for each birth cohort as the expected years lived from age 20 to 64 years and adjusted for educational attainment, learning or education quality, and functional health status was published by The Lancet in September 2018. Latvia had the twenty-first highest level of expected human capital with 23 health, education, and learning-adjusted expected years lived between age 20 and 64 years.
Germany ranked 20th in the world in life expectancy in 2014 with 76.5 years for men and 82.1 years for women. It had a very low infant mortality rate, and it was eighth place in the number of practicing physicians, at 3.3 per 1,000 people
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Montenegro is a country with an area of 13,812 square kilometres and a population of 620,029, according to the 2011 census. The country is bordered by Croatia, the Adriatic Sea, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania. The most common health issues faced are non-communicable diseases accounting for 95% of all deaths. This is followed by 4% of mortality due to injury, and 1% due to communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions. Other health areas of interest are alcohol consumption, which is the most prevalent disease of addiction within Montenegro and smoking. Montenegro has one of the highest tobacco usage rates across Europe. Life expectancy for men is 74 years, and life expectancy for women is 79.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Finland has resulted in 1,499,712 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 11,466 deaths.