Pitkäranta project: Health collaboration across the Karelian border
The border between Finland and Russia in the Karelian area demarcates one of the greatest health divides in the world. On the Finnish side, public health has improved greatly in recent decades, with dramatic reductions in cardiovascular disease rates, while on the Russian side mortality from cardiov...
| Other Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
THL
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.julkari.fi/handle/10024/116876 https://kirjakauppa.thl.fi/sivu/tuote/?id=144953 |
| Summary: | The border between Finland and Russia in the Karelian area demarcates one of the greatest health divides in the world. On the Finnish side, public health has improved greatly in recent decades, with dramatic reductions in cardiovascular disease rates, while on the Russian side mortality from cardiovascular and other non-communicable disease continues to be high and resembles that of Finland some 40 years ago. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, local health authorities in the Republic of Karelia asked for collaboration and assistance from Finland. Having become aware of the work and success of the North Karelia Project on the Finnish side, they sought to set up similar activities to improve public health in a region carrying a heavy disease burden. The District of Pitkäranta was chosen as a demonstration area for the entire Republic. The epidemiological situation in Pitkäranta and the results and experiences of the preventive work, based on risk-factor monitoring and other data, has since been reported in numerous scientific articles. This report tells something of the story of the Pitkäranta Project, giving an overall description of the background, developments, activities and main results. The experience gained and lessons learned from the cross-border collaboration are also discussed for the benefit of other similar efforts. |
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