Mental health

The Nordic countries have already combined their resources in order to improve the monitoring systems for health care, which helps develop better services and quality of care in the Region. The Nordic countries face a number of public-health challenges, so the work is ongoing but focus is currently on mental health. Mental illness underlies many major public-health problems and is increasingly cited as the reason behind many people's inability to work. The number of sick days and early retirements attributed to mental illness has increased substantially.

Current efforts on awareness, prevention and treatment in this area need to be streamlined. Closer co-operation on mental health helps to bring together all relevant parties, promote the sharing of experiences, and support reform in the mental health and care services. The aims are to close the gap in the provision of health care, to reduce marginalization in the Region, and to combat the stigmatisation of mental health issues.

Co-operation on innovation and emergency health planning

The Nordic countries are engaged in significant and substantial co-operation on health issues. Activities in this area include, for example, developing ways of extending the Nordic convention on the validity of prescriptions to cover e-prescriptions. This work creates tangible Nordic synergies by launching a service that is close to the users and which will be highly beneficial for the large number of Nordic citizens who commute across borders on a daily basis, or who take their holidays within the Region.

Nordic co-operation on health issues extends into many other tangible areas of co-operation. For example, the Nordic Institute of Dental Materials (NIOM) focuses on Nordic citizens' teeth and seeks to ensure the standard of the medical and technical products used in dental care in the Region. Another important area of co-operation is emergency health planning, i.e. preparing joint Nordic responses to pandemics such as bird flu, qualifications of health care professionals and quality improvement.

Efforts to combat drug abuse and the spread of HIV/AIDS

The alcohol policies of the Nordic countries share a strong focus on the public-health perspective. The Nordic Region works together on alcohol within the EU and the WHO. The ever-increasing degree of attention now afforded to alcohol issues, both inside the EU and internationally, is a positive development, but it does, however, place increased demands on the Nordic countries to maintain their competences and keep up to date with developments in this area. Joint efforts are therefore needed to prevent negative effects on public health, and to help disseminate scientific knowledge, both at European and global level.

Nordic co-operation also works to counteract the use of other drugs. The Nordic countries are currently engaged in important co-operation activities that combat drug abuse, not only in the Nordic Region itself but also in the whole of the Baltic Sea Region. The Nordic Region is a driving force behind the Northern Dimension's Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being, which incorporates perspectives on alcohol and drug abuse, as well as on combating HIV/AIDS.

The Nordic Centre for Welfare Finland promotes and develops interdisciplinary scientific co-operation on alcohol and drug research, as well as research into other addictive substances. The activities are mainly oriented towards social-science research, including social medicine and social psychiatry. The institution contributes to knowledge about consumption, prevention, drug policy, social and health consequences, and the treatment of addicts.

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The Nordic countries' joint co-operation body for the co-ordination of health statistics is the Nordic Medico-Statistical Committee (NOMESKO) which publishes an annual report and works to make sure that medical statistics are as comparable as possible between the Nordic countries. NOMESKO also takes the initiative in development projects and follows international developments in questions related to medical statistics.

Another important player in Nordic public health work is the Nordic School of Public Health (NHV), the purpose of which is to disseminate multi-disciplinary knowledge that promotes good health for all. Taking as its starting points scientific exellence, social relevance and a student-focused approach, the NHV conducts research, teaching and commissioned training for the benefit of public health, now and in the future.