Diabetes in Finland: What Can Happen When a Country Takes Diabetes Seriously

In April of this year, I was honored to speak at the Finnish Nurses in Diabetes educational symposium held in Naantali, a beautiful resort town on the west coast of Finland. This country has long recognized diabetes as a health problem for its citizens. In both research and management, Finland has aggressively pursued its national goals for reducing the effects of this public health problem. My Finnish host, Maria Aarne, General Secretary of the Development Programme for the Prevention and Care of Diabetes (DEHKO), generously offered to give me a tour of one of the country's outstanding diabetes programs.

By a lake outside a small city, a collection of buildings is nestled into the piney landscape. The windows of the buildings have large glass panes inviting the peace and quiet of nature into the indoor spaces. The beauty of the setting is integral to the work that is done inside—the work of putting lives back into balance. People come to this place of learning and support to focus on the lifestyle changes necessary to live successfully with diabetes. This place is the Diabetes Center in Tampere, Finland.

The prevention and care of people with diabetes is taken very seriously in Finland. According to the Diabetes Barometer 2005, a document published by the Finnish Diabetes Association, diabetes affects 10% of the country's adult population.¹ Although the preponderance have type 2 diabetes, ~ 15%, or 40,000 people, have type 1 diabetes. The incidence of type 1 diabetes is the highest in the world.² This is particularly alarming because the 2003 international comparison of the incidence of diabetes in children indicated that the rate in Finland is 40/100,000, giving this country the dubious distinction of being the leader in this statistic as well.

Among those with type 2 diabetes, the highest …