Environmental health
Valvira’s environmental health activities are designed to identify, prevent and eradicate health hazards in the environment.
Under our environmental health remit, we provide national guidance on supervisory activities set out in the Health Protection Act and the Tobacco Act. More detailed information on our tobacco-related supervisory activities is available elsewhere on our website.
Environmental health care
Environmental health care forms part of preventative basic health care provision. In essence, as part of our environmental health care function, we seek to direct our supervisory activities at the wider living environment impacting on population health, in full cognisance of the relevant risks. Under the environmental health care designation, we carry out our supervisory duties in relation to health protection, food safety, provisions under the Tobacco Act, and animal health and welfare as well as veterinary services.
Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto) and Valvira are charged with drawing up a joint national supervision programme for environmental health care. The programme will set out shared policies for sector-specific supervision programmes relating to food standards, health protection, tobacco, and animal health and welfare as well as supervisory activities undertaken by the relevant local authority bodies as set out in environmental health legislation.
Health protection
The aim of Valvira’s health protection activities is to maintain and promote the health of the population and to prevent, reduce and eliminate factors that may involve health risks or be damaging to human health and the living environment.
We protect the nation’s health by monitoring and investigating adverse health effects related to domestic water and pool water quality, communal living quarters and waste and by promoting land use that minimises such effects.
Valvira will draw up a national multi-year health protection supervision programme to harmonise supervisory practices across Finland. A health protection supervisory guide is also available to assist local authority health protection bodies with their supervisory activities.