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Insurance business in Finland is subject to licence.The government grants licences to authorised pension insurance companies that manage earnings-related pension insurance.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health directs, monitors and coordinates preparedness for incidents and emergencies in healthcare and social welfare.

Government branch The administrative branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health includes several independent institutions and agencies, which implement the ministry’s objectives in society and participate in Government Programme projects....

National Cancer Strategy 2026–2035 Cancer is a common disease in Finland. The number of cancer deaths in the country has fallen considerably over the past decades, and as many as two out of three people with cancer recover from the disease. Howeve...

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...

Publications Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is a publication series that supports the Ministry's management, communications on the Ministry's content matters as well as the strategic management of the Ministry's administ...

Social assistance Shortly Social assistance is a last-resort form of social security that secures the essential livelihood for an individual or a family when they cannot support themselves with other income or assets. It is a means-tested benefit,...

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...

International examples to help Finland create governance model for wellbeing economy 4.12.2025 8.46 The economy of wellbeing offers tools for policy makers to secure the preconditions for a good life both for the current population and future gene...

International and EU cooperation on gender equality Gender equality is one of the priorities of Finland’s EU and foreign policies. Finland promotes gender equality across various policy areas both in the EU and globally. Finland’s gender equality ...

“A career path can start in unexpected places – mine began as a Habbo Hotel moderator” Taina Pahkamaa‑Huusko has worked at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health since 2010 in a wide range of administrative roles. In her current position as Exe...

Wellbeing services counties will be responsible for organising health, social and rescue services Wellbeing services counties will be responsible for organising healthcare, social welfare and rescue services in Finland. There are 21 wellbeing serv...

Income security A central feature of welfare and social security is to provide support to people in vulnerable situations. Legislation » Legislation concerning income security. Finnish social security system » The Finnish social security system in...

Legislation concerning income security The Finnish Constitution guarantees the right of all people living in Finland to Adequate social and health services Basic income security Essential subsistence and care. There is a range of legislation gover...

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...

Family benefits The purpose of the benefit system for children and families is to safeguard the subsistence of the child and those responsible for his or her care, and to support the care of the child. The benefits are applied for at the Social In...

2.6.2022 | The term of the group responsible for the situational picture and modelling of the COVID-19 epidemic ends in June 2022. The situational assessment report, published every other week, has monitored the development of the epidemic and the measures taken to curb the epidemic, but it will be put on hold for now. The question of what practices may need to be adopted in the autumn will be addressed later.

Actions to reduce the use of tobacco and nicotine products The key actions to reduce the use of tobacco and related products are: as high product prices as possible (price and tax policies) smoke-free environments banning tobacco product marketing...

Promoting inclusion strengthens social cohesion Inclusion means belonging to and being connected with communities and society. It is reflected, for example, in trust, equality and people’s opportunity to have a say in their own community and socie...

Amending the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing a government proposal for amending the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data (555/2019). The Act will be amended in...

European cooperation on market surveillance Application of product legislation The Expert Group on Machinery (MD EG), which deals with issues related to the application of the Machinery Directive, operates under the Machinery Committee of the Euro...

Senior Civil Servants As the most senior public official at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Permanent Secretary directs and is responsible for the Ministry’s activities. The Under-Secretary of State assists the Permanent Secretary i...

Reform encourages both parents to take family leave The Family leave reform entered into force on 1 August 2022. The number of parental leave days will increase and there will be more flexibility for parents to take leave. The reform aims to incre...

Social security for athletes, grant recipients and students Social security and pensions is provided under special arrangements in the case of certain professional groups: Athletes Pension and accident insurenace is compulsory until the age of 65 ...

Frequently asked questions about the Act on Secondary Use of Health and Social Data Usein kysyttyä: The law mentions the primary and secondary use of customer data. What is the difference between these two concepts? The primary use of customer dat...

Substance abuse and addiction prevention Shortly The goal of substance abuse and addiction prevention is to reduce harm and promote health, wellbeing and safety. The wellbeing services counties organise substance abuse prevention and provide healt...

15.6.2026 | At the initiative of Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has launched preparations for a national women’s health strategy. The aim of the strategy is to gather information on women’s health and identify solutions that can promote women’s health, wellbeing and ability to work.

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...

31.5.2018 | A working group, appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, proposes a road map for ending the use of tobacco and other nicotine products in Finland by 2030. It would mean that less than 5% of the adult population use tobacco and nicotine products daily. Reaching this goal, recorded in the Tobacco Act, requires that the future governments monitor and assess tobacco policy and develop new measures.

The Committee for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (NAPE) is the coordination body required under the Council of Europe Convention (Finnish Treaty Series 53/2015, the so‑called Istanbul Convention), responsible for the coordination, monitoring and impact assessment of the measures necessary for the Convention’s implementation. [This is a machine translation, we do not guarantee the quality and accuracy of the translations produced.]

The Advisory Board for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the national coordinating mechanism for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Its function is to promote national implementation of the Convention and to take into account the rights of persons with disabilities in all aspects of government. The Board operates under Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. It consi...

EHDS Regulation The EHDS Regulation is an EU regulation that improves citizens’ control over their personal health data and provides healthcare professionals with access to patient data, regardless of where patients live or receive treatment. The ...

The Ministry The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) is one of the 12 ministries in the Government. The Ministry's tasks promote the good health and functional capacity of people promote healthy living and working environments secure suff...

General social security benefit The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing a general social security benefit. The benefit would include a basic allowance for living, an allowance for housing costs and a discretionary allowance as last-...

Data Protection Contact information Data Protection Officer Data Protection Officer Lassi Kauttonen The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Department for Communities and Functional Capacity tietosuojavastaava.stm(at)gov.fi Controller The Minis...

EU collaboration project to promote access to genomic data The success of the European ‘1+ Million Genomes’ Initiative relies on wide-ranging collaboration. Among the objectives of the EU project is to ensure secure, cross-border access to genomic...

Project on medicines and financial base of pharmacies The Government Programme includes numerous entries related to medicines and pharmacies. These entries will be implemented in a project titled ‘Medicines and the financial base of pharmacies’ in...

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.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health coordinates, develops and monitors gender mainstreaming as part of the Government’s gender equality policy. Monitoring focuses particularly on legislative drafting, economic and operational planning, budgeting, and competence development. In addition, the operational gender equality planning of public authorities is monitored.

Support and benefits The Finnish social protection system includes various forms of financial support and benefits designed to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to take part in working life and society in general. Children and parentho...