Haku

14.4.2026 | Sosiaaliturvakomitean arviointi- ja selvitysryhmä Selvitys yhdestä perusturvaetuudesta Näkökulmina rahoitus ja suhde ansioturvaan SOSIAALITURVAKOMITEAN JULKAISUJA 2026:1 Selvitys yhdestä perusturvaetuudesta Näkökulmina rahoitus ja suhde ansioturva...

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....

“Opportunities to build something new this hands-on in central government are rare” Laura Kuusio works on advancing Finland’s national Child Strategy and the European Child Guarantee. What matters most to her is strengthening the participation of ...

4.6.2026 | The Government is proposing a new type of integration assistance. The general social security benefit would be paid as integration assistance to immigrants registered as unemployed jobseekers who do not meet the prior work requirement or have lived in Finland for less than three years.

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...

Responsibilities in preventing domestic and family in the Ministry’s branch of government The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) coordinates the nationwide work to prevent domestic and family violence. It also coordinates the network o...

21.5.2026 | The Act on Healthcare Professionals has been amended to make it possible to receive international assistance for healthcare in different kinds of crises. The amendments will facilitate and speed up the operations of humanitarian assistance providers in Finland when assistance is needed fast. The amendments will enter into force on 25 May 2026.

16.6.2026 | Most of the first-phase amendments to child welfare legislation will enter into force on 1 October 2026.  However, the provisions on a closed institutional service providing rehabilitation will enter into force on 1 January 2027. The amendments aim to strengthen children’s right to balanced development and protection and to improve the possibilities of child welfare services to ensure a safe everyday life for children.

19.5.2026 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is requesting comments on the draft government proposal on the adoption and implementation of the social security agreement between Finland and Uruguay. The agreement would make it easier for workers to move between the two countries and would facilitate the operations of businesses. The deadline for submitting comments is 30 June 2026.

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.

9.4.2026 | The Government is proposing changes aimed at preventing intentional misuse of social security, reducing incorrect social security payments and improving information exchange with Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.

16.4.2026 | The Government proposes amendments to the Act on Child Home Care Allowances and Private Childcare Allowances. The proposal would implement the Norwegian model for child home care allowance. The proposal seeks to promote the integration and labour market position of women with an immigrant background and to increase the participation of children in early childhood education and care.

22.6.2026 | The Digital Pharmacist project is piloting remote and in-person pharmacist appointments in the wellbeing services counties of Pirkanmaa and South Ostrobothnia. The goal is to strengthen clinical pharmacy competence in healthcare and social welfare services and to create operating models that counties across Finland can use.

Finances and operations This page provides information about the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s operational and financial planning, budget, performance guidance process, operating plans and financial statements. The Ministry is responsibl...

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.

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.

Publicity of documents and requests for information Document publicity descriptions Documents produced by the authorities in the performance of their duties are public, unless special provisions on their secrecy have been laid down by law. In acco...

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...

The mission of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is to safeguard people’s functional capacity, livelihoods and services so that we can live in a stable, equitable and sustainable society.

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.

Ministerial Communications Team: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health The Ministerial Communications Team at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for planning, implementing and developing communications for the Ministry and it...

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.

Gender mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for promoting gender equality, and it means that the gender perspective is taken into account in all decision-making. The Gender Equality Unit of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health coo...

Narcotics control The central framework for narcotics legislation in Finland is based on the Narcotics Act (373/2008). In the Narcotics Act two types of substances are defined that are listed in corresponding Government degrees. ‘Narcotics’ are li...

International and EU affairs On this page Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s objectives for international and EU cooperation International Affairs Unit EU affairs at the Ministry Global cooperation Nordic and regional cooperation Human rights...

key proj

Decision draft under section 45b, subsection of the chemicals act restricting marketing of products containing nicotine General notification to concerned parties of hearing concerning a decision on nicotine pouches (VN/20729/2023) The Government i...

International and EU affairs On this page Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s objectives for international and EU cooperation International Affairs Unit EU affairs at the Ministry Global cooperation Nordic and regional cooperation Human rights...

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...

Creating a good working life together A good working life improves wellbeing, the economic sustainability of society and the competitiveness of companies. A good working life requires that wellbeing at work, work ability and productivity be streng...

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...

Register and information system descriptions When the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health processes personal data in the Government’s shared information systems , the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Prime Minister’s Office are join...

Alcohol Act The provisions on the production, import, sale, marketing and use of alcoholic beverages have been compiled in the Alcohol Act that entered into force in 2018. Alcohol Act 1102/2017 (Finlex), in Finnish and Swedish Government proposal ...

Global cooperation The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health prepares international policies within its branch of government, participates in preparing agreements and formulating policy approaches and sees to their implementation and monitoring in...

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...

In accordance with the Government Programme of Prime Minister Orpo's Government, solving the shortage of personnel threatening the availability of services in the welfare society requires both short-term and long-term measures. The Good Work Programme will be launched to ensure the sufficiency and availability of personnel in the health, social services and rescue services sectors.

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...

Contact information The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Telephone: +358 295 16001 (Government switchboard) Postal address: PO Box 33, FI-00023 Government, Finland Visiting address: Meritullinkatu 8, 00170 Helsinki Telefax: +358 2951 63415 (r...

The Government appointed a parliamentary monitoring group to support the legislative drafting project launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to lay down the principles for the national choice of effective services and methods. [This is a machine translation, we do not guarantee the quality and accuracy of the translations produced.]

Social security reform Social security will be reformed during the ongoing parliamentary term through government projects and the work of the Social Security Committee. The aim of the social security reform is to make the social security system sm...

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health guides, directs and develops legislation on occupational healthcare.

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-...

Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health contributes to coordinating the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland, which is funded from the one-off EU recovery instrument ‘NextGenerationEU’. The Sustainabl...

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...

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...

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing regulation on service choices in both healthcare and social welfare.

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...

Radiation protection In Finland, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has supreme authority in supervising compliance with the Radiation Act, and it directs the protection of the public, workers and patients from harmful radiation. The Minist...

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...

“You rarely get such a close view of how decisions are communicated” Neea Hassinen worked as a communications intern at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, where she developed online communications and contributed to current affairs communi...

Advisory Board on Biotechnology The Advisory Board on Biotechnology is an expert body providing advice on matters related to biotechnology and gene technology. It promotes cooperation between public authorities and researchers and operators in the...

Insurance The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for developing and drafting the legislation on statutory insurance, insurance companies and pension institutions. The goal is a sustainable social security and private insurance, b...

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...

Parties responsible for gambling policy The Lotteries Act, which is prepared by the Ministry of the Interior, governs gambling services. Under the Act, the primary objective of gambling policy is to prevent harm. The Programme of Prime Minister Pe...

fi sv en Personalised medicine creates preconditions for more effective treatment Personalised medicine promotes the health and wellbeing of individuals by utilising research, new technologies and a wider range of information resources. The aim is...

fi sv en Overall project description The projects to improve the effective utilization of personalised medicines are linked to former Government’s key project of strengthening competitiveness. In the General Government Fiscal Plan, the Government ...

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...

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...

National Advisory Board on Romani Affairs The task of the Advisory Board on Romani Affairs is to enhance the equal participation of the Roma population in the Finnish society, to improve their living conditions and socio-economic position and to p...

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...

The objective of the project, based on the Government’s policy guidelines, is to enhance the safety of children’s and young people’s digital growth environments and to protect them from the harms of social media. [This is a machine translation, we do not guarantee the quality and accuracy of the translations produced.]

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Minister of Social Affairs and Health Wille Rydman The Finns Party Minister of Social Affairs and Health Wille Rydman is responsible for all other matters covered by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, ...

The strategic working group supports the preparation of national strategy for women’s health.

Gambling-related harm The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health coordinates the prevention and reduction of gambling-related harm at the government level. These measures are guided by the Gambling Policy Programme that extends to 2030. As provided...

For the media Media contacts Annette Rinne, Head of Communications, tel. +358 295 161 169 Ministerial Communications Team: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Please direct all media inquiries to the Communications Unit’s email at [email protect...

The Child Strategy is Finland’s national long-term plan for strengthening the wellbeing and rights of children, young people and families with children.

The welfare of the population in Finland relies on and is strengthened by health care and health promotion.

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.

Steering of wellbeing services counties The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for the general guidance, direction, planning and development of healthcare and social welfare in Finland. The Ministry of the Interior, in turn, is r...

4.12.2025 | The economy of wellbeing offers tools for policy makers to secure the preconditions for a good life both for the current population and future generations. A new working paper by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) analyses how wellbeing economy practices have been integrated into decision-making in ten countries. This comparison will also help Finland create its own governance model.

Department for Communities and Functional Capacity The Department for Communities and Functional Capacity is responsible for matters related to health and social services for children, young people and families, services for people with disabiliti...

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 ...

Open positions and the Ministry as a workplace On this page Open positions Trainee positions at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health The Ministry as a workplace Service relationship, working hours, pay, and general collective agreements Well-...

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.]

Department for Steering of Healthcare and Social Welfare The Department for Steering of Healthcare and Social Welfare is responsible for the general steering, planning and development of healthcare and social welfare in Finland. The Department for...

Municipalities are responsible for promoting health and wellbeing.

“Opportunities to build something new this hands-on in central government are rare” » At the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Laura Kuusio is developing new ways to strengthen the participation of children and young people. “I’m always looki...

22.9.2025 | The Finnish Government proposes EUR 14.8 billion in appropriations for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and its branch of government for 2026. This is about EUR 0.5 billion less than in the 2025 Budget.

Good Work Programme – Creating more appeal and staying power in the healthcare and social welfare sector Mounting service needs driven by an ageing Finnish population, higher rates of chronic diseases, evolving expectations and new technologies – ...

Working life programmes Working life programmes The Government’s working life programmes produced concrete solutions for working life and the service system during the 2019–2023 government term. The implementation of the programmes was based on th...

Mediation in criminal and civil cases Mediation in criminal and civil cases is a free-of-charge public service where volunteer mediators mediate between the parties to a crime or a dispute and assist them in the negotiations. The purpose of mediat...

Further information fi sv en Drug Development Centre to promote competitive development of drugs Finland has competitive basic medical research of high quality that has the potential of developing new medicinal products. However, so far commercial...

Occupational accidents and occupational diseases The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for developing and preparing the legislation concerning insurance against occupational accidents and diseases. The workers’ compensation insu...

Gambling system The regulation of the provision of gambling services concerns the general organisation of this provision as well as the supply of gambling services in more detail. The general way how services are organised sets the framework for t...

The national health and wellbeing programme seeks to reduce the wellbeing deficit and disease burden caused by the principal chronic diseases and conditions and their risk factors, to boost working and functional capacity, and to minimise disparities between population groups due to issues of health and wellbeing.

Management and organisation Two ministers and one permanent secretary run the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. A State Secretary may assist the ministers in their tasks. There are six departments in the ministry, in charge of the preparation...

School health care is part of school welfare services, which also include the services of school social workers and psychologists.

The centres of excellence on social welfare bring together wellbeing services counties, research institutes, educational establishments, organisations and other bodies in their area to promote cooperation.

Fighting infectious disease: Responsibilities of the authorities The task of healthcare and social welfare services is to safeguard that the population has the healthcare and social welfare services essential to their health and functional capacit...

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...

Prevention of alcohol and drug related harm and addictions The aim of public authorities is to prevent and reduce the risks, harm and problems caused by the use of alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products as well as drug use and gambling. The Minist...

COVID-19 disease in Finland Shortly Since July 2023, COVID-19 has been classified as a monitored communicable disease instead of a generally hazardous communicable disease. Vaccinations continue to be the most important way to protect against seri...

Social security and services for people applying for and receiving international protection in Finland People applying for international protection leave their home countries for various reasons, for example, to escape war, persecution or insecuri...

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...

Roma policy in Finland The overall objective of Finland’s National Roma Policy is to promote the inclusion, participation and equality of the Roma in different spheres of life. The policy programme is a comprehensive action plan, prepared in coope...

Guidance of information management in healthcare and social welfare The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for the general planning, guidance and monitoring of information management within its administrative branch and for the f...

Projects and working groups On this page you can browse and search for information on the projects and programmes of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and on the work of the working groups. For information on all projects of the Ministry o...

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...

Disability policy promotes equality Disability policy is made up of society’s actions and policies that ensure equal opportunities, rights and services in Finland for persons with disabilities. What are the principles of Finland’s disability polic...

Health and social services for people arriving from Ukraine On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a military attack against Ukraine. Finland is committed to helping people who have fled the war in Ukraine to Finland, also with respect to healthcare...