Minister Risikko: Health equity is an issue of social justice and ethics
"Health equity is an issue of social justice and ethics. It is also an issue of political will and commitment, and especially social and economic policy. The government is taking health promotion and reduction of health inequities seriously", stated the Minister of Health and Social Services Paula Risikko in the Seminar on Social Determinants and Health: The role of national action plans to reduce health inequities that took place in Helsinki on Tuesday 17 November.
"The health in Finland has over the past decades improved significantly. This is largely due to reduced mortality from cardiovascular diseases. However, although reducing health inequities has been a goal of Finnish health policy for a long time, health inequities have not diminished. They are large by social group and by gender", minister Risikko pointed out.
"The main objectives of the Government policy programme on health promotion are to improve the population's state of health and to reduce health inequalities. The programme is seeking to have impact through reinforcing the structures of health promotion, achieving life-style changes and developing healthy working and living conditions among other things."
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has also launched a national action plan to reduce health inequalities for the years 2008-2011.
"The action plan includes 15 new important short term actions. These concern, for example, health promotion in vocational schools and in those occupational fields where work related risks and harmful health behaviours are the most common. Raising alcohol and tobacco taxation is among the most important measures", stated minister Risikko.
"As we all know, the quality of any programme or action plan is in the end measured by its results and the sustainability of the results. Countries differ in their structures, traditions and methods of planning and implementing policies and programmes. But it is probably common for all of us that reducing health inequalities will not be very easy", stated minister Risikko.
More information:Eeva Ollila, ministerial adviser, tfn. +358 9 160 74032, +358 50 302 1291
Anna Manner-Raappana, special adviser, tfn. +358 9 160 74157, +358 40 575 6618
Related topics National action plan to reduce health inequalities 2008-2011 (MSAH's publikation 2008:25)
Related links
Government policy programme on health promotion (Finnish Government)