Occupational Asthma incidence in Finland

Finland has an action plan to lessen the burden of asthma. The country also has good statistics on the incidence of chronic asthma, as patients receive free prescriptions after specialist diagnosis. The statistics for occupational asthma are probably the best in the world, due to the central institute of occupational health which is responsible for validating the diagnosis with funds from the workers insurance (it does however exclude the self-employed, with the exception of farmers). The paper describes the incidence of occupational asthma from 1992-2003, and shows a fall from 400 to 300 a year (with a working population of about 2 million). The proportion of incident asthma due to work was 29% for men and 17% for women, higher than other estimates.

References

	Haahtela T, Tuomisto LE, Pietinalho A, Klaukka T, Erhola M, Kaila M, Nieminen MM, Kontula E, Laitinen LA, A 10 year asthma programme in Finland: major change for the better, Thorax, 2006;61:663-670,

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