The National Public Health Institute of Finland (KTL, fi, Kansanterveyslaitos, sv, Folkhälsoinstitutet) was a research and expert institute under the

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health ( fi, Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö , sv, Social- och hälsovårdsministeriet) is a Finnish government ministry tasked with the planning and implementation of policies regarding the social affairs and ...

charged with the task of protecting and promoting health in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. KTL was founded in 1911; the final form was established in 1982 in order to promote public health in Finland. The institution had a duty to promote

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and prevent disease. KTL performed research in public health in broad sense, and monitored diseases. KTL also acquired and distributed the vaccines paid by the government. KTL was merged on 1 January 2009 with STAKES, the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, to form a new research and development institute, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The last Director General of KTL was

Pekka Puska Pekka Puska (born 18 December 1945 in Vaasa) is a Finnish physician, docent and politician. Puska held the position of Director General of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland in 2009–2013. THL was formed following t ...

, who was also appointed Director General of the THL.

History

Initially the institute was founded to combat infectious diseases and to make and distribute serum preparations and vaccines. The early organisations were the State Serum Laboratory (1911–1947; provisional 1911–1914), the State Serum Institute (1947–1970) and the Public Health Laboratory (1970–1981). The new Act in 1982 paved way for its transformation from a practical microbiological and clinical chemistry laboratory towards a research institute specializing in public health and prevention of diseases. This development was also seen in the organisation structure; new departments in

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

and

Environmental Health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...

(originally Toxicology and Environmental Hygiene) were founded. In less than 10 years the transformation led by director general

Jussi Huttunen Professor Jussi Kalervo Huttunen (born 1941 in Helsinki) is a physician (1966 University of Helsinki), scientist, and former director general of the National Public Health Institute of Finland (1978-2003). He is an internist by training, and served ...

was complete, and the Institute had few routine tasks. It served the government as an expert organisation, performing internationally relevant research related to public health.

Highlights of research at KTL

Top quality research at KTL included early work on

interferons Interferons (IFNs, ) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten the ...

by Kari Cantell, research on several bacterial

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...

s by Pirjo Mäkelä's group, and collaboration with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

to promote vaccination programs in developing countries. In epidemiology and health promotion so called North Karelia Project led by

produced internationally well-known results in preventing cardiovascular diseases. Later several environmental health projects mostly funded by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

added to international understanding of toxic dioxins in food, and outdoor fine particulate matter as well as health problems due to indoor air. Finally, mainly in 1990s, genes involved in Finnish heritage of diseases were successfully identified in

Leena Peltonen-Palotie Leena Peltonen-Palotie (16 June 1952 – 11 March 2010) was a Finnish geneticist who contributed to the identification of 15 genes for Finnish heritage diseases, including arterial hypertension, schizophrenia, lactose intolerance, arthrosis ...

's group. KTL ranked very high among the Finnish research institutes, and was evaluated to do highly competitive and internationally relevant research. Complete lists of publications are available.

External funding

External funding covered approximately 40% of all of the Institute's costs. The most important funding agencies included the Academy of Finland, National Institutes of Health (USA), and the Framework Programs of the European Commission. KTL's policy was to secure as much external funding as possible to guarantee the implementation of its action plans. KTL also did research with private funds in the fields of vaccines and nutrition. Private funding has drawn criticism from some NGOs. On the other hand, the Government and funding agencies have recommended increased collaboration with companies.Working group appointed by the Academy of Finland, 2005: Long-term and dynamic partnerships. Research co-operation and researcher training between universities, research institutes and business companies.
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References

Sources

* A. S. Härö and V. Raunio: Seerumit aseina - vastustajina mikrobit (Sera as weapons against microbes); History of National Public Health Institute and its predecessors. Helsinki 1990 (in Finnish). * THL home page https://web.archive.org/web/20110809061823/http://www.thl.fi/en_US/web/en/ with links to KTL pages

External links

International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI)
{{Authority control Medical research institutes in Finland