Chief Physician Otto Helve has been selected as the new Director of the THL Department of Health Security
Otto Helve
Photo: THL, Aleksi Malinen
Chief Physician Otto Helve has been selected as the new Director of the Department of Health Security at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Helve currently works as Head of the department’s Infectious Diseases Control and Vaccinations Unit. He will start in his new position no later than October.
“The coronavirus pandemic has taught us a great deal, and of course a lot has been expected of us during this time. I want to utilise what we have learned and develop the department’s activities together with the country’s leading experts so that the health security of all those living in Finland can be further strengthened,” Helve says.
The role of Director of the Department of Health Security became available when Mika Salminen took up his new post as Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare at the beginning of September. A total of 16 people applied for the post.
The health impacts of climate change is a significant topic also in Finland
The Department of Health Security is comprised of three units: Expert Microbiology, Infectious Disease Control and Vaccinations, and Environmental Health.
Helve highlights the health and wellbeing impacts of climate change and its mitigation as one of the important research topics for the coming years.
There are many such impacts, and they arise in many different ways: agricultural and food production conditions are changing, extreme weather phenomena increase the number of accidents, higher rainfall causes moisture damage to houses, microbe levels in bathing waters are rising, heatwaves raise mortality and darker winters increase depression.
In addition, global warming and increased rainfall are affecting the prevalence of diseases transmitted by animals such as insects. The milder it is, the faster and wider the spread of insects and related diseases.
"The health impacts of climate change are already being observed. We are studying and monitoring these impacts, and our goals include increasing people's awareness of how to protect themselves from the harmful effects of phenomena such as prolonged heatwaves,” Helve explains.
In his new role, Helve will also be responsible for THL’s coronavirus measures. At the moment, the epidemic situation in Finland is quite calm, and most of the population has been vaccinated.
"The number of coronavirus infections will continue to vary, but it is likely that the quantity of severe cases will remain low in Finland because of the vaccinations and the immunity people have acquired due to recovery from coronavirus infection. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and are ready to react quickly to any changes.”
Fact file
Otto Helve (b. 1973)
[email protected]
tel. +358 29 524 7711
- Paediatrician 2011, Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist 2017, Public Health Specialist 2020
- Member of the Advisory Board on Communicable Diseases, Member of the National Advisory Committee on Vaccines, Member of the Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists, Member of the Association for Medical Education in Finland'
- Has had several periods of working for THL, and has been with the organisation continuously since 1 April 2020
- Hobbies: taekwondo, literature
- Motto: Whenever you find yourself taking things for granted, it is time to change your thinking, to pause or to reflect.
