Diseases and disease control
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An infectious disease, or a communicable disease, spreads as microbes are transferred from one organism to another, either directly or indirectly. An infectious disease may be caused by a virus, bacterium, parasite or fungus.
On these pages you will find information about vaccine-preventable diseases occurring in Finland. The pages also contain information about antimicrobial resistance, healthcare-associated infections and prevention of infections.
Many actors involved in infectious disease control
In Finland, the responsibility for the general planning, steering and monitoring of infectious disease control rests with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, while the municipalities are responsible for organising the hands-on work.
The joint municipal authorities of each hospital district guide and support municipalities and social welfare and health care units in this work, develop the diagnostics and treatment of infectious diseases at the regional level, and investigate outbreaks together with municipalities.
THL directs and supports the work to control infectious diseases carried out by the municipalities, hospital districts and Regional State Administrative Agencies. In addition, THL monitors and assesses infectious disease threats in Finland and globally.
Preparedness for outbreaks, both at the national and the international level, is an important part of infectious disease control.
