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The effect of the Second World War on the preventive child healthcare in Finland
| War has usually catastrophic effects on public health, but it can also act as a catalyst for reforms by revealing flaws and weaknesses in the healthcare system. The pro-natalist changes are often prominent, as in Great Britain, where WWI was followed by reforms in child welfare.
In Finland the WWII was waged in three phases between 1939 and 1945, but, as in Great Britain, the country was never occupied. In the Winter War in 1939 – 40 the casualties were high and 11 % of the surface area had to be ceded to Soviet Union, which caused an extensive refugee problem. The war also revealed the dismal health of the Finnish children in rural and peripheral areas. The lost war created a strong pro-natalist sentiment. With the help of considerable foreign relief aid it was possible to build a network of child and maternal welfare centres. The process did not stop during the war against Soviet Union in 1941 – 1944. In 1944 laws were passed obliging the municipalities to build child and maternal welfare centres with state support.
In my presentation I will focus on the actual process of improving the health of children during the war years. The foreign relief aid was channelled to the victims of war, especially refugees, through “Suomen Huolto” – the Finnish Relief organization. The municipalities were supported in their efforts to improve the health of children. The number of child welfare centres approximately doubled from 1939 to 1944. The hospital beds for children trebled between 1939 and 1941. From the newly established centres it was possible to distribute vitamins, food supplements and clothes to the children, as well as to start vaccinations against tuberculosis and diphtheria. As a consequence, together with food rationing that guaranteed higher rations to small children and expectant mothers, the infant mortality actually was at the lowest ever in 1943.
The reforms were permanent because the relief money was used to build infra-structure and the legislation ensured the continuity of the process. The difficult post-war economic situation and the waning of the wartime altruistic mentality were not able to undermine the building of the centres that nowadays are considered to be a part of the Finnish welfare society.
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