Pohjola Insurance and Suomi Mutual Medical Award to a multifaceted healthcare expert:

Medical Award Granted to Jussi Huttunen

Jan 8, 2010

The Pohjola Insurance and Suomi Mutual Medical Award, worth EUR 20,000 and granted since 1981, will this year go to Professor of Medicine Jussi Huttunen, selected by the Finnish Medical Foundation in recognition of his broad healthcare expertise and major contribution as a promoter of national health in Finland. 

Jussi Huttunen (b. 1951), M.D. and specialist in internal medicine, acted as the Director General of the National Public Health Institute (currently the National Institute for Health and Welfare) for over 20 years and as Chief Director at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish medical journal Duodecim. He has also acted as chairman of several public health organisations and is known as a multifaceted expert in Finnish healthcare services and as a visionary.

Major challenges in healthcare services

Jussi Huttunen lists the following four major challenges faced by Finnish healthcare services that need to be resolved in the near future: healthcare inequality, problems caused by alcohol consumption, illnesses based on obesity, and the challenges presented by population ageing and the related prioritisation of treatment.

– The Finnish healthcare service infrastructure has performed relatively well. We have so far been able to provide healthcare services efficiently and effectively but the problem pertains to inequality.  Finland has exceptionally large variations between regions and socio-economic classes with respect to health. There are also too big differences in health between men and women, explains Huttunen.

– This lack of equality is due to the fact that the availability of healthcare services varies by region. This problem applies to both the basic and special healthcare services.

– On the other hand, there are also major differences in the availability of services between various socio-economic classes. The disadvantaged and less educated people find it difficult to cope with the maze of our complex healthcare system. Some people are not interested in their health or do not go to the doctor even if they need to do so, specifies Huttunen.

Alcohol and overweight cause many illnesses

Higher alcohol consumption is the second major challenge that needs to be taken seriously. – In the past, the most common cause of death among men was coronary artery disease and that among women breast cancer. Lately, the prevention and treatment of these diseases have made remarkable progress with the result that their mortality rates among the working-age population have declined.

– Now alcohol has become the most common cause of death among working-age Finnish men and women. We drink more alcohol and have a higher binge drinking rate than in the other Nordic countries.

Huttunen says that the third major healthcare challenge is obesity.  – Overweight has become a big problem within a short period of time. This has been reflected in a rapid increase in type 2 diabetes, and the coronary artery disease incidence may begin to rise again. Obesity also plays part in increasing rates of many types of cancer and musculoskeletal disorders, states Huttunen.

Who has access to treatment?

The fourth challenge on Huttunen's list is paradoxical because it arises from advancements in medicine and the successful performance of healthcare services. The population is ageing at a fast rate and life expectancy is lengthening. As a result, the next few decades will see an increasing incidence of illnesses typical of elderly people. Treatment alleviating symptoms, lengthening life and improving the quality of life and daily function has made progress and are ever more effective, albeit more expensive.

– In the near future, we will be facing the big challenge of rising expenditure on all types of treatment.  It is possible – or probable as some people say – that in the next decade we will have to make painful choices and decide who will get treatment and who will not when it comes to certain diseases and types of treatment.

– Now we need to discuss how this priorisation will be performed and by whom if this becomes necessary. At the same time, we must also decide how we can minimise any medical, ethical and human problems that these choices may cause.

Award worth 20,000 euros

The grantee of the Pohjola Insurance and Suomi Mutual Medical Award, worth EUR 20,000 euros and granted since 1981, is selected by the Finnish Medical Foundation. The award will be given to Professor Jussi Huttunen by donor representatives Tomi Yli-Kyyny, President of Pohjola Insurance Ltd, and Markku Vesterinen, President and CEO of Suomi Mutual, at the Finnish Medical Convention on 11 January 2010.

At the event, Huttunen will give a speech titled "Looming crisis in healthcare services – can we survive?".

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Jussi Huttunen, M.D., tel. +358 (0)50 505 2776
Matti Karjalainen, Chief physician, tel. +358 (0)10 2533 2265 or email matti.karjalainen@pohjola.fi