Report: Alcohol abuse “a big problem” in Finland, the biggest cause of preventable deaths | News
Many Finns lose years of their lives due to preventable diseases, such as diseases caused by alcohol addiction, according to a report by the Finnish Consulting Group (FCG).
“It reminds me the land of sad songs, with so much emphasis on alcohol, violence and suicides. It gives a pretty dark picture”, expert doctor Emma Kajander FCG said.
the land of sad songs (roughly translated as “land of sad songs”) was a a song released in 1982 by the Finnish pop-rock band Eppu Normaal (you switch to another service)which describes how a Finn’s life can slide into unemployment, alcoholism and suicide.
The song was intended as a parody of sad Finnish schlager (so-called popular song in Finnish) music, but it has instead become the main example of the genre.
The FCG report stated that although healthcare professionals save many lives across the country every day, some still die from preventable or avoidable diseases.
In addition, the study found considerable differences between regions, genders and income groups in relation to alcohol addiction, mental health problems and suicide statistics.
“This is the time to seize the moment. We have really big differences, so we can no longer just go by the national average,” Kajander said.
Alcohol was found to be the biggest cause of preventable deaths in 15 welfare regions across Finland, suicide was the biggest cause in five regions and ischemic heart disease in three.
The goal of Sote’s reform is to reduce health inequality
Finland will start reforming social and health services (“Sote”) across the country at the beginning of next year, when responsibility for providing services will be transferred from municipalities to 21 regional authorities and the city of Helsinki.
One of the main goals of the reform is to reduce health-related regional and socioeconomic inequality.
A key measure in this regard is the number of lives or years lost in preventable circumstances. For example, the average number of years of life lost in the Kainuu region is almost double compared to the islands of Åland.
In addition, although alcohol is the biggest cause of preventable deaths in both North Karelia and West Uusimaa, the loss is one third higher in North Karelia.
There are also big differences between the sexes in unnecessary deaths.
Finland’s PYLL index (potential years of life lost) revealed that the number of years lost to preventable premature death is on average 2.3 times higher in men than in women. The regional and socio-economic differences between the sexes are even greater, as the worst result for men is almost four times higher than the best for women.
The PYLL index is a widely used international measure of premature deaths, which especially emphasizes the importance of young deaths.
The Finnish public health authority THL uses deaths before the age of 80 in its PYLL measurements, and the FCG report focused on preventable deaths in the 0-75 age group.
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Alcohol is a perennial problem
Emma Kajander responded to the results of the report, that special attention should be paid to the statistics of deaths related to alcohol, drugs and suicides.
– Internationally, alcohol is a really big problem for us [Finns]. Alcohol-related deaths have still not fallen to European levels,” Kajander said.
This view is shared by the Director General of the Public Health Agency THL. Markku Tervahauta.
“It’s nonsense that we’ve learned to be French wine drinkers. There’s enough risky behavior,” Tervahauta said.
This can be seen in a Report published by THL last month, which stated that Deaths and liver diseases caused by alcohol increased with the reform of the Finnish Alcohol Act in 2018.
The change in the law increased the maximum alcohol content of drinks sold in grocery stores from 4.7 percent to 5.5 percent and also allowed the sale of mixed drinks made from spirits in grocery stores.
THL and Lääkäriliitto oppose further liberalization of alcohol policy, including the sale of wine in grocery stores, and claim that increased availability and supply will also increase alcohol-related harm.
Tervahauta also noted socio-economic and regional differences in possible years lost from alcohol use.
“For example, in Kymenlaakso, this is still an old industrial worker culture. There has certainly been a kind of Friday drinking culture there, and it’s probably more common there than anywhere else. Then somewhere in Lestadio [a Lutheran revival movement that abstains from alcohol] In the regions of Ostrobothnia or Northern Ostrobothnia, very little alcohol is consumed,” he said.
“There’s a lot to lose”
Vascular diseases and cancers are still at the top of the list in terms of diseases that kill the most in Finland.
But data on years of life lost show that a huge number of years of life are lost prematurely due to unnecessary, avoidable deaths.
Deaths from cancer or vascular diseases tend to occur at a much later age, but drug and suicide deaths do not.
“When you lose a young person, maybe at the beginning of their working life, it’s unnecessary in every way, very expensive and miserable,” Kajander said.
According to FCG figures, up to 75 percent of prematurely lost life years could have been saved, and unnecessary deaths are strongly related to substance abuse.
Kajander emphasized the importance of investing in Finland’s newborn health care areas to prevent drug use and suicides and added that each area should find the most effective ways to solve the problem together with local experts.
The report stated, for example, that alcohol takes years off the lives of low-income men in Kymenlaakso. Sanna KosteThe director of Kymenlaakso’s welfare and health promotion told Yle that for some, substance abuse and social problems are a dead end.
“We know that health and economic deprivation is unfortunately passed down from generation to generation,” Koste said.
He added that the Kymenlaakso region has identified the most difficult problems in its own region and launched multidisciplinary social and healthcare industries to solve the problem.
Kinnunen: Lifestyle is the most important thing
In the PYLL comparison, Ostrobothnia is an example of the other extreme. According to him, there are many reasons for this Marina Kinnunenhead of the regional health authority.
“If people have work, things to do, a sense of belonging and security, then of course the living conditions are much better. I believe that these are strongly connected,” Kinnunen said.
The health and well-being of the people of Ostrobothnia is reflected in the fact that alcohol consumption is lower than in many other parts of Finland.
Since the welfare regions will receive funding according to their needs in the future, Ostrobothnia’s funding will be cut. However, Kinnunen said that while this may have an effect, the most important factor determining life expectancy is people’s lifestyles.
“It’s the most important factor before the actual social and health services,” he said.
Emma Kajander from FCG added that every member of society could do their part by helping others.
“The most important thing we need is to care and intervene to help others when needed. So that we don’t leave people alone. Loneliness is really a big factor in many of these things,” Kajander said.
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