Pandemic preparedness

National preparedness measures for a pandemic are regulated under the Communicable Diseases Act (1227/2016), which entered into force on 1 March 2017.

• Communicable Diseases Act 1227/2016

In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its guidelines on international pandemic preparedness and response in 2017.

• Pandemic Influenza Risk Management: A WHO guide to inform and harmonize national and international pandemic preparedness and response (WHO)

Finland’s national preparedness plan will be updated in the 2023, taking into account all relevant new regulations and guidelines. The plan was last updated in 2012.

• National preparedness plan for an influenza pandemic (Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2012:9) (In Finnish)

The aim of the preparedness plan is to minimise the adverse effects of a pandemic on human health and to ensure the continuity of society’s functions to the fullest extent possible.