Reader’s opinion|The new and rising disease risks brought along by climate and environmental change should be taken into account with priority by investing in monitoring them, detecting changes and informing about them.
Health and the welfare institution’s (THL) change negotiations ended about a month ago. The adaptation measures resulting from the savings of 12 million euros will affect the health and well-being of the population already in the next few years in many areas of public health.
One function the surgeries target is expertise in tick-borne diseases. There are two tick-borne diseases of importance to public health in Finland: borreliosis and tick encephalitis. The number of cases of both has increased in recent years. In addition, in April there was news in Finland about a new tick-borne disease, neoehrlichiosis.
Climate change affects the diseases transmitted by ticks that depend on their environment, and since the global climate is warming most strongly in the north, Finland should be especially alert to the changing disease situation.
Managing the risks related to the spread of tick-borne diseases requires long-term investment and resources. The new and rising disease risks brought along by climate and environmental change should be taken into account with priority by investing in monitoring them, detecting changes and informing about them. In this case, it would be possible to react to situations quickly even from small signals, and resources would not have to be used for crisis management and extinguishing fires. With the current decisions, the direction is completely opposite.
Now is the time for decision-makers to clarify what they want the future of infectious diseases to look like. If disease monitoring is constantly cut, it inevitably also means living in the dark regarding disease risks. The risks related to infectious diseases must be taken into account in decision-making and be aware that the cost-saving measures taken now will have negative effects in the future. Decision-makers should know what they are committing to when cutting health.
Henna Mäkelä
researcher, THL
Olli Vapalahti
professor of zoonotic virology, Helsinki
Jukka Hytönen
assistant professor, Turku
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