Minister of Health Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD).
Foto: PELLE T NILSSON SPA | SWEDISH PRESS AGENCY
Allergic eczema that itches.
Foto: marishkaSm / Shutterstock
Woman sneezes from pollen.
Photo: Erik Nylander/TT / TT NEWS AGENCY
Asthma and allergy are today one of the biggest public diseases in Sweden. Pollen, fur animals and food are among things that many people react to. Food allergies are especially increasing among children.
In Finland, people have been actively working to reduce the prevalence of allergies in society for a long time. Acko Ankarberg Johansson calls Finland “an interesting precedent country” and states that Sweden must now follow what is being done there.
It is, for example, about relying on research into what can prevent allergies.
– We know that by giving children certain foods early on, you can reduce the risk of them getting allergies, says the minister.
According to Acko Ankarberg Johansson, the Asthma and Allergy Association has worked to draw the government’s attention to the fact that Sweden lacks work to prevent allergic diseases.
Photo: MELI PETERSSON ELLAFI / BILDBYRÅN
Finland has reduced allergies
According to information on the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association’s website, the Finnish example has had good effects. For example, it has resulted in reduced costs for allergy and asthma and fewer emergency visits due to asthma. At the same time, the increase in allergic diseases in Finland has been halted.
In order to focus on allergic diseases, the government is now giving a task to the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Swedish Food Agency to draw up proposals for a national action plan that should be ready in 2026. At the same time, the National Committee for Medical and Social Evaluation, SBU, is tasked with drawing up research-based information about allergies. The decision was made on Thursday.
Through the assignments, the government hopes that knowledge about allergies and how they can be prevented will increase, but also that it will lead to patients who have already become ill being guaranteed good and equivalent care across the country.
Lack of allergists
Even before the action plan is in place, however, the Minister of Health hopes that Sweden will be able to start working more actively to prevent more people getting sick, for example through information to new parents and staff who work with children.
– It’s about being able to give good advice with the help of knowledge support. Both when it comes to children in the early years but also to the rest of us since then, says Acko Ankarberg Johansson.
But the new action plan must also be about securing access to doctors with specialist expertise in allergy and asthma, so-called allergists.
According to the minister, there are currently only 90 allergists in Sweden who work with children and 70 with adults.
– I have met quite a few of them and they themselves usually say that there are so few that they know each other by name.
The chairman of the Asthma and Allergy Association Mikaela Odemyr calls the announcement from the government “extremely gratifying”.
– A national allergy program addresses the challenges we see today. For example, unequal care where investigation and treatment depend on where in the country you live and who you meet in the care. It also clarifies for the regions what resources are needed for everyone with allergies to receive good care, something we hope will lead to more specialists, she says.
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