In 2018, under the auspices of the Department of Health, a study called FinTerveys was conducted in Finland. This study is conducted regularly and aims to check the health status of the population in various regions of Finland and in the country as a whole.
The study in question is, by far, the freshest in the series of such events in the health sector.
The results of the study were generally positive. They say that Finland’s health status continues to improve.
The pace of improvement in 2017 slowed somewhat compared to the previous two years, but this slowdown is not significant. The movement in the positive direction continues.
When conducting research for each specific area, the incidence index was determined. This is the name of an indicator that displays the incidence rate in the region in relation to the average incidence rate in the country. At the same time, the incidence rate in the country was indicated by the number 100.
The list of diseases examined during each study includes oncological and cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the organs of motion, mental problems and dementia. All these diseases belong to diseases that are called national.
The magnitude of the danger of each of these diseases is determined on the basis of the following factors:
Impact of the disease on mortality statistics
Impact of the spread of the disease on the number of sick leave and on quality of life
The scale of funds spent on the fight against the disease.
When comparing the situation in cities with a population of more than 50 thousand people, it turned out that the healthiest citizens live in Espoo (incidence index 73), Helsinki (81) and Vantaa (83). All these three cities have long merged with each other and represent, in fact, a single metropolitan center.
Among the most disadvantaged, in terms of public health, were cities such as Kuopio, (129), Oulu (115), Joensuu (114) and Kotka (113).
Comparison of the health status of the population of different regions showed that the residents of the Alansky Islands (63), the capital region (83) and the Pohyanmaa region, located on the western coast of the Gulf of Bothnia with the center in the city of Vaasa, turned out to be the healthiest (89).
The highest incidence rate was found in regions such as Pohjoys-Savo (130), Pohjoys-Karjala (122), Pohjoys-Pohjanmaa (122), Kainuu (118) and Lappi (115).
It was also noted that the incidence index increases with distance from the southern and western regions of the country towards the north-western regions.
Although the incidence index for Finland as a whole has decreased, the degree of its decrease in different places is not always the same.
In recent years, the incidence rate in the country has decreased by 16 percent. At the same time, in the top ten, in terms of population health, it became 36 percent lower, but in ten lagging areas the decrease was only 5 percent. According to experts, such unevenness is based on such reasons as living conditions, lifestyle, hereditary factors and differences in the degree of effectiveness of the work of health authorities.
The study showed that the education of the population also affects the level of its incidence.
Among people with higher education, health problems are much less than among people with only a primary level of compulsory education.
In this regard, I would like to note that this circumstance cannot be a matter of pride for more educated people.
Of course, it is more difficult for a driver of a heavy truck, who sleeps at customs in a truck cab, or a welder who inhales metal combustion products, to maintain his health than an office worker or a person who studies, for example, the problems of globalization.
It seems that people studying public health issues need not only to compare numbers and indicators, but to go, so to speak, to the people, getting acquainted with those areas of work where the threat to the health and even the lives of workers is most real and concrete.
Among such areas requiring close attention should be construction, dyeing and chemical production, deforestation, many transportation sectors, metal and metalworking, work of personnel in homes of disabled people, etc.
It is strange that, exploring a wide variety of topics, ranging from artificial intelligence to animal dreams, researchers bypass the topic of the impact of work on the health status of workers, as well as the theme of the development of occupational diseases.
At least in the media, these issues are not in sight. So when conducting the FinTerveys study, the incidence rates were compared by region, not by occupation.
But it is precisely the people who work in uncomfortable and, at times, hazardous to health conditions, create the very GDP in its final form. That’s the budgetfrom which funds are allocated to finance institutions and the large state apparatus.
A healthy lifestyle is not only good nutrition and proper leisure. In many cases, the workplace and working conditions have a decisive influence on the health status of thousands of people. This effect is often so significant that it can negate the benefits of proper nutrition and morning jogging.
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