The health care system in Finland has certain special features that other countries do not possess. The main responsibility for organizing and financing health care has been devolved to the 320 municipalities, which have exceptionally small population bases in international comparison. Another unique feature is the existence of parallel financing and delivery systems.
The Finnish public health care system is one of the most advanced in the world. According to the statistics of 2012, there is one doctor for every 271 inhabitants. Finland uses 7.8 % of its GDP on health expenses. Life expectancy is 79.4 years in Finland, which is above the average life expectancy in OECD countries, 79.55 years. Also, infant mortality rate is only 3.4 babies out of 1000 in Finland compared to the 4.6 babies of OECD countries.
Social welfare and health care are funded by taxation: the state distributes the funds between the municipalities through complicated calculations. There are five university hospitals in Finland. In these universities various new technological innovations are created and tested alongside with health care companies. The university hospitals are continuously researching treatments, cures and solutions.
ICT is used in growing numbers in the field of health care and companies specialized in these fields can find good opportunities in Finland. Different measurement and analytical devices are made in co-operation with health care, electronics and ICT sectors. The rapid ageing of the population − the fastest in Europe − and the emergence of the silver economy, make Finland a unique health care market in the future.
Finnish market has good settings to develop and launch health care products due to high quality of training and education in medicine, electronics and biotechnology. A vast number of the medical equipment produced in Finland is exported. Simultaneously, a large number of different equipment is imported; the highly specialized market requires international cooperation to function most efficiently.
e-health |
Biotechnology |
SILVER ECONOMY- AGEING POPULATION |