Press releases and news

THL's new report finds that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government Programme strongly highlights young people, but its objectives and entries are in part contradictory. According to THL's assessment, the Government Programme contains positive objectives related to young people's everyday lives, but at the same time, the lack of funding or cuts from factors supporting the objectives may dilute the impacts.

There are major differences in many indicators of health and work ability between cities, confirms the Healthy Finland Survey.

The Nordic Council of Ministers eHealth Standardisation group has published recommendations on how standards should be used to support the usability of information systems and the quality of data in healthcare. The recommendations have been prepared in Nordic collaboration between 2022 and 2024.

Equal and timely access to primary health care must be ensured, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) states. In connection with its spending limits session on Tuesday, the Government announced that the treatment time guarantee for non-urgent care in primary health care would be loosened, and care would have to be provided within 3 months. Currently, the wait can be no longer than 14 days.

Finns had primarily negative attitudes towards gambling. According to a population study conducted in 2023, attitudes towards gambling have become more negative in younger age groups, while becoming more positive in older age groups. The previous study was carried out in 2019.

On Tuesday 2 April, a shooting took place at Viertola school in Vantaa, killing one and injuring two 12-year-olds. The suspect is also 12 years old.

The vaccination coverage of young children in Finland is high year after year. Nearly 98 per cent of all children born in 2021 have started the 5-in-1 vaccination series, which protects them against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and Hib diseases. Almost 95 per cent of children born in 2021 have been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella. This information comes from the Finnish national vaccination register.

The number of children born in the Nordic countries decreased by 8.3% in 2022. This was the highest annual change in the number of children in over fifty years.

Of the adult population that have moved to Finland, 42 per cent reported having been discriminated against during the previous year, and as many as 75 per cent of them estimated that the discrimination had been based on their origin, ethnicity or skin colour. The result was revealed by THL’s MoniSuomi study.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) will conduct an extensive survey for higher education students in March and April. An invitation to the survey will be sent to 12,000 randomly selected students from universities and universities of applied sciences.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s welfare were particularly marked in young people with disabilities, and especially those with a foreign background, a recent study by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare reveals. Around 40 per cent of young people with disabilities and a foreign background reported anxiety, compared to only 14 per cent of the population.

New research results based on national register data show that diagnoses for memory disorders each year are significantly more common than previously estimated.

In recent years, the number of diagnosed scabies cases in Finland has increased significantly. Last year, there were 37,190 reported cases of scabies in the National Institute for Health and Welfare’s (THL) Register of Primary Health Care Visits (Avohilmo), which is 74 per cent more than in 2022. In 2022, 21,355 cases were reported, which was 85 per cent more than in 2021.

The THL User Interface for Database Reports and Data Cubes and the Statistics and Indicator Bank Sotkanet are experiencing a technical issue causing the services to be unavailable.

The influenza epidemic is still ongoing in Finland. Influenza has been diagnosed in different parts of Finland and in people of all ages. However, the number of influenza findings reported to the National Infectious Diseases Register has decreased. The majority of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases are influenza A, but individual influenza B infections have also been reported.

In spring 2024, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) conducts a survey targeted to families of pre-primary education children living in Finland. Half of the parents with children born in year 2017 are invited to participate. This means in practice approximately 50,000 parents of children starting school this year.

The number of clients and housing days at shelters increased last year, as can be seen from THL's preliminary statistics. A total of 5,266 clients stayed at shelters, which is about one hundred more than in 2022.

Pneumococci, or Streptococcus pneumoniae, are bacteria that cause common upper respiratory tract infections, including sinus and middle ear infections. They may sometimes also cause serious diseases that require hospitalisation, including pneumonia, meningitis and blood poisoning. However, blood poisoning or meningitis caused by pneumococcal bacteria are rare in Finland.

Finns are advised to eat more vegetables, whole grains and sustainably caught and farmed fish. At the same time, they should reduce their consumption of red meat, processed meat and foods rich in salt, fat or sugar. A change in diets would not only promote people’s individual health but also planetary health.

A recent report compares Finns’ state of health and Finnish health services with other EU states and Nordic countries. Released by the European Commission, focus areas of the report include the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and mental health. Although Finland does well in many respects, there are challenges especially in the availability of health services.