Finland

Healthcare System

Finland has a universal healthcare system funded by taxes. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for health regulations and assessment countrywide, while municipalities are responsible for providing access to health services at all levels of care. From the public health expenditure, what isn't covered by the national and local taxes is funded by the National Health Insurance.

Registries

Registry: Statistics Finland - Cause of Death

Primary purpose: Provide publicly available information on causes of death.

Sponsor, manager or home institution: Statistics Finland; Ministry of Finance.

Available type of information: Deaths by underlying cause of death, age, sex, and county.

Source of Information: Death certificates and data from the Population Information System.

Data level: Patient level.

Available data level: Regional level.

Number of Records: Unknown.

Date Range: From 1969 onwards.

Cancer Areas of Interest (ICD-10): Neoplasms (C00-D48); malignant neoplasms (C00-C97); malignant neoplasm of lip, oral cavity and pharynx (C00-C14); malignant neoplasm of oesophagus (C15); malignant neoplasm of stomach (C16); malignant neoplasm of colon (C18, C19); malignant neoplasm of rectum, anus and anal canal (C20-C21); primary malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22); malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25); malignant neoplasm of larynx, trachea, bronchus and lung (C32-C34); malignant melanoma of skin (C43); malignant neoplasm of breast (C50); malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri (C53); malignant neoplasm of uterus (C54-C55); malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56); malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61); malignant neoplasm of kidney (C64); malignant neoplasm of bladder (C67); malignant neoplasm of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96), other malignant neoplasms; other neoplasms (D00-D48)

Open data access: Partially publicly available data. Information can be found here.

Information/Contact for data request: Information on how to access the data can be found here.

Clinical Study Databases

Survey: FINRISK

Primary purpose: Store the sample collection and data information of participants from the FINRISK survey. The purpose of the survey was to assess the risk factors of chronic diseases, including cancer.

Sponsor, manager or home institution: THL Biobank.

Type of information: Survey answers about cancer diagnosis and smoking habits or exposure, as well as many other survey answers for risk factors. There's also a sample collection from the participants at the THL Biobank.

Data level: Respondent level.

Number of Records: About 35,000.

Date Range: 1972-2012.

Cancer Areas of Interest: Unknown.

Open data access: Data is not publicly available. More information and variable descriptions can be found here.

Information/Contact for data request: Information on how to access data can be found here.

Survey: Finnish Mobile Clinic Examination

Primary purpose: Store the sample collection and data information of participants from the Finnish Mobile Clinic Examination survey. The purpose of the survey was to monitor population health, need for treatment, functional abilities, and collect data for epidemiological search.

Sponsor, manager or home institution: THL Biobank.

Type of information: Medical history, smoking habits, and other health information. There's also a sample collection from the participants at the THL Biobank.

Data level: Respondent level.

Number of Records: About 60,000.

Date Range: 1965-1980.

Cancer Areas of Interest: Unknown.

Open data access: Data is not publicly available. More information can be found here.

Information/Contact for data request: Information on how to access data can be found here.

Survey: Health 2000 and 2011

Primary purpose: Store the sample collection and data information of participants from the Health 2000 and 2011 survey. The purpose of the survey was to gather data on the most important public health problems in working-aged and aged population, their causes and treatment as well as on the population’s functional capacity and working capacity.

Sponsor, manager or home institution: THL Biobank

Type of information: Medical history, smoking habits, and other health information. There's also a sample collection from the participants at the THL Biobank.

Data level: Respondent level.

Number of Records: About 13,000.

Date Range: 2000 and 2011.

Cancer Areas of Interest: Unknown.

Open data access: Data is not publicly available. More information can be found here.

Information/Contact for data request: Information on how to access data can be found here.

Study: ATBC Study

Primary purpose: Store the sample collection and data information of participants from the study "The alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene lung cancer prevention study: Design, methods, participant characteristics, and compliance".

Sponsor, manager or home institution: THL Biobank.

Type of information: Detailed information about participants, including physical description, smoking habits, health record, and others. All variables can be found here.

Data level: Patient level.

Number of Records: About 29,000.

Date Range: 1985-1993

Cancer Areas of Interest: Lung cancer.

Open data access: Data is not publicly available. More information can be found here.

Information/Contact for data request: Information on how to access data can be found here.

Latest Policymaking Initiatives

Survey: FinSote - Lifestyle and Risk Factors

Sponsor, manager or home institution: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare

Primary purpose:' The FinSote National health survey aims to monitor the changes in the population's well-being and health.

Type of information: Proportion of daily smokers, proportion of daily users of e-cigarettes containing nicotine, and Proportion of daily users of tobacco products or e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

Level: National level.

Access to information: Information can be found here.