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Client and patient safety The safety of care and services is part of the overall quality of healthcare and social welfare. Safe care and services are evidence-based and effective. They are provided in the right way and at the right time. Client an...

Mental health services The aim of mental health work is to strengthen people's good mental health and to reduce factors that undermine it. This work includes activities to promote mental health and prevent mental health disorders, as well as menta...

Assessment of risks associated with gambling Assessing the risks and harm caused by gambling is statutory work conducted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The Ministry started to assess the risks and harm related to the running of gamb...

Maternity and child health clinics Maternity and child health services are offered for all pregnant parents, families that are expecting a baby and children before school age and their parents. The functions of the maternity and child health clini...

Department for Work and Gender Equality The Department for Work and Gender Equality (TTO) guides and directs the supervision and administration of occupational safety and health, drafts legislation and policies on occupational safety and health, a...

7.4.2021 | A pilot strengthening the inclusion of children and young people in drafting the Child Welfare Act will be carried out when implementing the National Child Strategy. The pilot aims to create a model for consulting children and young people in legislative work. 

17.1.2022 | The Social Security Committee started its preparations for a social security reform by identifying problems in the current social security system and by describing its choices and basic principles. The results of this work are now published in five reports compiled by the committee’s five divisions. 

2.2.2023 | Finland has implemented tripartite Equal Pay Programmes for four government terms, but the need for them has not gone away. The pay gap between women and men has narrowed slowly. This information comes from an overall assessment of the Equal Pay Programme that was published today.

18.8.2026 | EN EN EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 13.7.2026 COM(2026) 364 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Council Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between person...

5.12.2025 | 1 Classified as ECDC NORMAL Appendix 10 - Country follow-up to ECDC PHEPA recommendations Following the PHEPA mission conducted in your country, the final ECDC assessment report includes a series of recommendations aiming at supporting your countr...

3.12.2024 | Resilience and the report on the future of European competitiveness are on the agenda at the Health Council meeting in Brussels on 3 December 2024. On Finland's initiative, the meeting will also discuss the health sector’s role as part of the preparedness union strategy. Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen will represent Finland at the meeting.

23.9.2024 | The two memorandums published on 23 September 2024 assess the combined impacts of the changes to income security that the Government is preparing or implementing for the years 2024–2025.

5.12.2025 | Country report: ECDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment for Finland, 2024 Under Article 8 of the Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 ASSESSMENT ECDC ASSESSMENT Country report: ECDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment for Finland, 20...

16.6.2025 |  Finland will reform and strengthen its health technology assessment (HTA) activities. As part of the reform, the expertise and resources concerning HTA activities will be pooled into a single competence cluster. 

19.6.2026 | 1 CONCEPT NOTE OSTRAVA CASE STUDY The Social Rental Agency model to overcome Roma housing exclusion May 2026 The European Network on Roma Equality under EU Funds (EURoma Network) has been working since 2007 to foster an increased and effective use...

13.2.2026 | Together Against Cancer – Human-Centred Cancer Prevention and Care National Cancer Strategy 2026–2035 Finland National Cancer Strategy 2026–2035 Contents Summary 3 Strategic objectives 5 Current situation and operating environment 6 Cancer in Finl...

9.4.2026 | 1 ADI-ROM(2025)26 Restricted Strasbourg, 9 March 2026 COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA AND TRAVELLER1 ISSUES (ADI-ROM) 13th meeting Strasbourg, 1-2 April 2026 Explanatory Memorandum Recommendation to the member States on desegregation and inclusion po...

30.10.2025 | Officials of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have prepared a healthcare and social welfare 2040 vision to outline their view of the long-term direction of health and social services in Finland. The aim is to ensure that, in future, people in Finland will continue to receive effective, equal and sustainable services which they can trust.

10.10.2025 | The digital therapies experiment launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has proceeded to the pilot phase. The experiment brings together public-sector and private-sector operators to test how digital solutions fit into the daily operations of healthcare services. Of 24 applications, ten digital therapy solutions were selected for the experiment.

10.12.2025 | An independent group of experts has conducted a broad-based interim evaluation of the wellbeing services county reform, which was published on 10 December. Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso, Minister of Local and Regional Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen and Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen consider the findings valuable.

Value chain for pharmacotherapy Pharmaceuticals-related development, research and innovations The facilitation of research and development of pharmaceuticals is a requirement for new pharmaceutical innovations. It is characteristic of the pharmace...

Accessibility statement for the stm.fi website The website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health at stm.fi is subject to the provisions of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services (available in Finnish). Under the Act, public online ser...

Provisions will be laid down on the principles according to which the inclusion of services, methods and and forms of work in the range of services and their removal will be implemented in public healthcare and social welfare. The possibility of enacting provisions on a national actor who can make a binding decision on the inclusion of the method in the range of public services will be investigated.

Amended legislation on health checks for children and young adults Type: Press release Categories: Publication date: 22.12.2025 Request for comments: Legislative amendment would extend right of small alcohol producers to sell their products direct...

Healthcare and social welfare system and responsibilities Finland’s healthcare and social welfare system is founded on public healthcare and social welfare services funded from tax revenue. Alongside the public sector, private companies provide he...

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health steers and develops chemicals legislation, which also covers colourants and auxiliary ingredients used in tattoos and permanent pigmentations.

Chemical oversight Chemicals legislation prevents harm caused by chemicals Chemicals legislation prevents harm caused by chemicals to health and the environment. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for the general guidance, mo...

Violence against children and its prevention The authorities work to prevent violence against children in many ways and in broad cooperation with various parties. The key national plans coordinated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health incl...

Equal pay Equal pay is a fundamental and human right. Under the Finnish Equality Act, people performing the same work or work of equal value must receive the same pay, irrespective of their gender. Reducing pay gaps is a central equality issue and...

Amended legislation on health checks for children and young adults Categories: Publication date: 22.12.2025 The timing and content of health checks at child health clinics and schools, and in student healthcare and oral healthcare will be regulate...

Contact information Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare / APO Clients and Personnel Unit / ASI Janette Grönfors, Senior Specialist Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare / APO, Clients...

Cosmetic products Cosmetic product legislation ensures that the products are safe for human health. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for the general guidance, monitoring and development of operations pursuant to the Act on ...

Gender mainstreaming Gender equality can be promoted through targeted measures, such as promoting equal pay or combating violence against women, and by taking gender perspective into account in all decision-making and preparation. Integration of g...

Strategic and Financial Management Unit The Strategic and Financial Management Unit assists and supports the Permanent Secretary and is in charge of developing the Ministry’s strategic leadership. The Unit is responsible for advancing and developi...

NAPE – Committee for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence The Committee for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (NAPE) is responsible for the coordination,monitoring and evaluation of the measures required unde...

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s assessment of the combined impacts of government proposals, taking into account fundamental and human rights. The assessment memorandums are prepared annually as part of official duties and published in the Government Project Register Hankeikkuna.

Work ability programme The aim of the work ability programme was to eliminate obstacles to the employment of people with partial work ability and develop services to support the work ability of people with partial work ability The work ability pro...

12.5.2023 | The measures launched during the working capacity programme to create a more inclusive labour market and to employ people with impaired working capacity should be continued and developed further. The employees’ ability to work is an essential factor in the pursuit of a higher employment rate. These are some conclusions of the evaluation report on the recently completed working capacity programme.

10.12.2025 | The wellbeing services county reform is progressing towards the set objectives throughout Finland, but there are still many issues left to address. This is according to a broad-based interim evaluation of the wellbeing services county reform made by an independent expert group.

The large-scale interim evaluation of the wellbeing services county reform aims to assess the achievement of the reform objectives in 2025 in relation to the objectives laid down in legislation. The evaluation will be carried out on the basis of the implementation in 2023–2025 and by examining the preconditions for achieving the long-term objectives of the reform.

3.9.2026 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has published a job evaluation model to help organisations assess what constitutes equal work or work of equal value. The EU Pay Transparency Directive requires Member States to make available and easily accessible to employers analytical tools or methodologies that support and guide the assessment and comparison of the value of work. Thus, the new model will support the national implementation of the Directive.

Evaluation Group (ARVI) - Group personnel Hidden