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15.2.2022 | Due to the health and social services reform, the Act on environmental and energy efficiency requirements in vehicle and transport services procurement will be reviewed.

15.2.2022 | Due to the health and social services reform, the Act on environmental and energy efficiency requirements in vehicle and transport services procurement will be reviewed.

20.6.2024 | On Thursday 20 June, the Government appointed Markus Henriksson as Director General of the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) until the end of 2025.

9.10.2023 | The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council of EU employment and social affairs ministers is meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, 9 October 2023. The ministers are expected to adopt conclusions on issues such as mental health and precarious work. In addition, the Council seeks to reach a political agreement on a recommendation on developing framework conditions for the social economy. 

1.12.2023 | This year, the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP28, will host the first-ever Health Day and climate-health ministerial. The purpose of the thematic day is to highlight how climate change affects people’s health and wellbeing as well as the resilience of health systems and societies and to point out that the climate crisis is also a health crisis.

9.10.2023 | The Finnish Government proposes about EUR 16.2 billion in appropriations for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and its administrative branch for 2024. This is slightly over EUR 134 million more than in the 2023 Budget. The increase is due to needs assessment changes in pensions, for example, and to the implementation of reforms set out in the Government Programme.

31.5.2023 | The increasing frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change, the loss of fertile soil and biodiversity loss are challenging the food security and the future of food production worldwide. However, soil management offers solutions to these challenges. The first Northern European meeting of the international “4 per 1000” Initiative will bring international leaders in the topic to Helsinki on 6–8 June 2023.

28.8.2023 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health proposes appropriations of about EUR 16.15 billion for the Ministry and its administrative branch for 2024. This is about EUR 0.4 billion more than in the 2023 Budget. The increase is mainly due to changes in the needs assessment.

Whistleblower protection Whistleblower protection safeguards people who report certain types of misconduct. In this case, a ‘whistleblower’ is a person who, in the course of their work, discovers a breach of European Union or national law concerni...

11.5.2023 | The legislative amendment which is currently circulated for comments would ban the sale of nicotine pouches and restrict their import. The nicotine content of pouches on the market is often higher than that of snus (a smokeless oral tobacco product). There can be portion-packed pouches available for sale which contain up to ten times more nicotine than snus.

Ministerial committees and working groups The Government has four statutory ministerial committees with different areas of responsibility: the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs...

5.8.2021 | The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority published a draft of the national programme for spent fuel and radioactive waste management on 5 August 2021. A report on the environmental impacts of the programme was released at the same time.

5.8.2022 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health proposes appropriations of about EUR 15.8 billion for the Ministry and its administrative branch for 2023. This is about EUR 0.2 billion less than in the 2022 Budget. The decrease is mainly due to the end of the Government Programme projects and changes in the needs assessment.

1.7.2021 | The International Year of Plant Health 2020 of the United National, declared on the initiative of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, ended on Thursday 1 July with a closing ceremony organised in Rome via remote connections. Finland played an active role in organising the events of the year and promoting the objectives.

10.9.2021 | We now have an opportunity to create the conditions that encourage investment in a healthy population and planet, with adequately resourced, responsive and innovative health care, social care, environmental protection and related systems, the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development appointed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) states in its final report.

27.9.2021 | The Government proposes appropriations of about EUR 15.9 billion for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and its administrative branch for 2022. This is about EUR 1.9 billion less than in the 2021 Budget. The decrease is mainly due to one-off payments to compensate for the costs caused by COVID-19 to the healthcare and welfare service system.

23.6.2021 | The Government proposal for legislation on establishing wellbeing services counties and reforming the organisation of healthcare, social welfare and rescue services was adopted by Parliament on 23 June 2021. The proposed wellbeing services counties will be established as soon as possible after the passing and approval of the relevant acts. The acts will enter into force in stages, the first ones on 1 July 2021 and the last ones on 1 January 2023.

13.8.2021 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health proposes appropriations of about EUR 16.5 billion for the Ministry and its administrative branch for 2022. This is about EUR 1.3 billion less than in the 2021 Budget. The decrease is mainly due to one-off payments to compensate for the costs caused by COVID-19 to the healthcare and welfare service system. The biggest increases arise from the dismantling of the backlog in treatment and services and the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

15.9.2021 | VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has studied how new apartments have changed in 15 years. Now the buildings are safer, healthier and more energy-efficient. Growing focus on small apartments has responded to the demand, but due to the smaller floor area homes have become more difficult to adapt to different needs.

17.7.2026 | On 15 July 2026, the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment issued a competent authority statement on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) programme of Kuopion Energia Oy’s project to build a small modular reactor (SMR) plant for district heating production. The statement was issued as part of the EIA procedure.