NDPHS congratulates Finland for becoming a NATO member - NDPHS

The flag of Finland is being raised at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: AFP, JOHN THYS

NDPHS congratulates Finland for becoming a NATO member

5 April, 2023

4 April 2023 marked a historic day for one of the NDPHS Partner Countries. The blue cross flag was raised at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, accompanied by an orchestra majestically playing Our Land, the Finnish national anthem. Finland had just become the 31st member of the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

 

From complete political and military impartiality during the Cold War, Finland has gone through a long journey to evolve from the neutrality identity of the past. The membership in the European Union in 1995 de facto brought political neutrality to an end. Yet, military non-alignment remained, turning to ‘non-membership in a military alliance’ in rhetoric in the 2000s, and, finally, leading to filing of an application for NATO accession in 2022. In the words of the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, conveyed moments after the official accession, “The era of military non-alignment in our history has come to an end. A new era begins.”

The Russian war in Ukraine has unsettled the security situation, not least in the Baltic Sea Region. The geopolitical world order of the post-Cold War era is shaken and brought to question through inhumane means. The ghosts of the past are haunting, bringing fear of repeated history. Yet, in the face of adversary, the countries in the Nordic and the Baltic Sea Region stand more united and closer together than ever before. As the latest NATO member, Finland joined seven of the other NDPHS Partner Countries in the Alliance, with Sweden waiting for final ratifications.

As Sauli Niinistö reiterated in Brussels upon the Finnish accession, security and stability are the basic elements of happy lives. Security, safety and stability therefore directly impacts people’s mental health, wellbeing, and resilience. We at the NDPHS acknowledge that health and well-being outcomes are impacted by a plethora of factors that lie outside of the healthcare sector – from social, economic and ecological dimensions to safety and security. As the Policy Area “Health” Coordinator of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, we seek to work across sectors to promote the Health in All Policies approach and advocate for the economy of wellbeing.

This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the NDPHS. Over the years, Finland has been a valuable partner. In 1999, Finland played an important role in establishing the Northern Dimension Policy Framework, hosting a Ministerial Conference on the Northern Dimension during its EU Presidency and inviting the European Commission to prepare a Northern Dimension Action Plan. Today, Finland chairs two of the NDPHS Expert Groups and actively contributes to the Partnership’s work.

We congratulate our dear Partner as their new era as a NATO member begins.

Other News
Public Health in the context of the Polish response to the refugee crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine
Currently Poland is hosting the largest number of refugees from Ukraine, roughly 1.5 million. This article, prepared in connection to the European Public Health Week, tells the story of how Poland mobilised to ensure the Ukrainian refugees the access to HIV treatment and medicine
24 May, 2023
A story from Ukraine
This is the story of Anastasia, an HIV positive person, who fled the war in Ukraine to Finland and found a way to continue her antiretroviral treatment. The article is prepared in connection to the European Public Health Week 2023.
24 May, 2023
The WHO European Region to relocate the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases from Moscow to Copenhagen
A special session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe was held in a virtual format on 15 May 2023, where Sweden and the majority of WHO Member States in the WHO European Region decided to relocate the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) from Moscow to Copenhagen. The decision was taken in support of Ukraine and enables the WHO to continue its work fighting noncommunicable diseases in Europe.
16 May, 2023
New guide for arts and health collaboration
Together with the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture we are delighted to launch a guide: “Talking Points: Arts and Health in Communities”. The guide is about arts-based interventions that combine medical and cultural approaches with the aim of offering support to arts and health practitioners interested in creative approaches to wellbeing.
16 May, 2023
Mental Health Matters – an NDPHS project on mental health at work selected for funding
Today, on the annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work, we are happy to announce that Mental Health Matters, a project developed by the NDPHS Expert Group on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH EG) together with the NDPHS Secretariat, has been approved for funding by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. The project aims at improving mental health at work, thus contributing to the well-being of citizens and the resilience of enterprises and societies.
28 April, 2023
Using behavioral insights in public health programming
As public health professionals, we tend to rely on education and training to encourage people to adopt more healthy behavior. Although we know that often, even when people know how to behave healthily, they choose not to do so. This is because behaviors are driven by multiple socioeconomic and cultural factors. Knowledge alone does not necessarily change behaviors.
28 March, 2023
World Tuberculosis Day: ‘Yes! We can end TB!’
Tuberculosis remains a major public health challenge in some of the NDPHS partner countries, and it is crucial that governments and international organizations continue to prioritize its prevention and treatment, on World TB Day 2023 emphasizes the NDPHS Expert Group on HIV, TB, and Associated Infections. While progress has been made, there is still much more work to be done.
24 March, 2023
All News >