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8.5.2025 | The series of social security dialogues held by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Timeout Foundation brought out a wide variety of views and development suggestions from citizens on the future of social security. The outcomes of the dialogues will be presented at a webinar on 15 May 2025.

Nordic cooperation Nordic cooperation involves Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The vision of the Nordic countries is to make the Nordic region the most sustainable and integrated region in the wor...

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...

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...

Healthcare and social welfare for undocumented persons When it comes to the organisation of healthcare and social welfare, it should be noted that there are people residing both legally and illegally in Finland who are usually referred to as undoc...

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...

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...

4.7.2025 | Starting from 1 September 2025, persons aged 65 and over can book a private healthcare appointment and pay only a deductible that is equal to the client fee charged for public healthcare services. The pilot is based on developing the reimbursements paid by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). The President of the Republic approved the legislative amendments enabling the pilot on 4 July 2025.

23.11.2023 | The minimum staffing level for care personnel in units providing 24-hour care for older people will rise from the current minimum level of 0.65 employees per client to 0.7 employees per client on 1 January 2028. During the transition period, the service structure will be developed and a number of measures will be taken to improve the availability of healthcare and social welfare personnel. 

10.12.2024 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Timeout Foundation are hosting a series of 25 Timeout dialogues to discuss the future of social security. The aim is to increase public debate on social security, strengthen dialogue between various parties, increase citizens’ participation in the social security reform, and produce information to support decision-making.

1.2.2023 | The National Genome Strategy responds to the challenges of a rapidly changing operating environment. The strategy brings together actions to utilise genomic data for the benefit of citizens’ health.

25.8.2022 | The second phase of the reform concerning services for older people will improve particularly services provided at home and housing services. The reform will, for the most part, enter into force on 1 January 2023 simultaneously with the health and social services reform. The amendments will also apply to other client groups of social services. 

1.4.2022 | On 1 April, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, who is currently visiting Finland, will meet with Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Aki Lindén. During the day, they will pay a visit to the Helsinki Reception Centre in Punavuori and the Comprehensive Cancer Centre of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa.

1.12.2023 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has published a strategy for digitalisation and information management in healthcare and social welfare.

19.5.2020 | The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has updated its guidelines for elderly people to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

25.4.2019 | Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data has been laid down. The purpose of the act is to make the use of the data smooth and more secure.

8.3.2023 | Genome strategy Content Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 3 STRATEGIC GOAL 1: Finland makes use of its unique prerequisites in re...

20.12.2022 | The President of the Republic has approved the amendments to the Abortion Act. In future, a pregnancy may be terminated solely based on the pregnant woman’s request until the end of the twelfth week of pregnancy. In the 1970 Act, an opinion by two doctors was required in most cases for the termination of pregnancy, and grounds had to be presented.

22.12.2017 | The establishment of a genome centre in Finland is proceeding. The working group appointed to prepare the establishment of a genome centre has sent for comments a memorandum that outlines its main proposals for a genome act and for setting up the centre. It is hoped that comments will be received, in particular, from healthcare and social service professionals, research communities, biobanks, enterprises and organisations by 2 February 2018.

30.10.2018 | The 70th Session of the Nordic Council starts this week in Oslo and its agenda includes various topics, such as culture, environment, sustainable development, international cooperation, and other matters relating to the current challenges facing our welfare states.

21.12.2020 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health encourages civil society to participate in the preparation of the equality policy report by expressing views on what an equal Finland would look like.

21.12.2021 | In its negotiations on Tuesday 21 December, the Government discussed the COVID-19 situation and decided on new restrictions and other necessary measures. In addition to increasing vaccination coverage, effective national and regional measures to limit close contacts are needed to slow down the spread of the epidemic. This will allow more time for giving people third vaccine doses.

9.12.2019 | The EU/EEA countries are moving towards electronic exchange of information concerning social security benefits for people moving from one country to another. To this end, the social security institutions will implement the so-called EESSI system (Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information).

5.12.2018 | The Government proposes expanding the data in the national information system services or Kanta Services using patient data from social welfare services and wellbeing data produced by individuals themselves.

16.1.2019 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, together with other authorities and actors, has prepared for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (or Brexit). In a vote held on 15 January, the British Parliament rejected the UK withdrawal agreement from the European Union. The result of the vote does not mean an immediate withdrawal without any agreement. Further plans of the United Kingdom are expected to be announced within the next few days.

5.12.2017 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has launched a design competition for application developers. The objective of the competition is to find new kinds of health and wellbeing applications that could be connected to the My Kanta pages Personal Health Record (Kanta PRH).

4.12.2017 | The Slush side event organised by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Thursday 30 November was a creative event with a lot of pitching.

3.9.2015 | GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY AGENDA PILOT ASSESSMENT OF PORTUGAL April 12 to 17, 2015 Global Health Security Agenda Pilot Assessment of Portugal, Final report 22.6.2015 ____________________________________________________________________________________...

27.4.2015 | Well-being through nutrition A guide for municipal decision-makers Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................

3.9.2015 | GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY AGENDA PILOT ASSESSMENT OF UGANDA FEBRUARY 16 – 20, 2015 1 | P a g e Global Health Security Agenda EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Global Health Security Agenda Pilot Assessment of Uganda February 16 – 20, 2015 The Global Health Security ...