Terveyspoliittinen käänne Suomen aids-linjan selittäjänä 1980-luvulla

Authors

• Jenni Karimäki Helsingin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37449/ennenjanyt.115982

Keywords:

poliittinen historia, aids, hi-virus, tartuntatauti, terveyspolitiikka

Abstract

Actions to overcome communicable diseases reflect the values ​​of society and the state of trust between citizens and decision-makers. Reactions and practices stem from health policy traditions that are inextricably linked to a societal understanding of who or what causes morbidity or mortality. Individual responsibility and society's control over the individual's activities are at the heart of controlling epidemics and pandemics. Regarding the motives and social dimensions of health policy, it is important to ask who is responsible for public health, and what roles the individual and society have been given at different stages in history. The article shows that Finnish AIDS policy followed a health policy trend established in the 1980s, in which the main emphasis was on accentuating individual behavior and individual responsibility instead of collective control and discipline. Moralistic reactions or the ambitions of the medical profession had little influence on Finnish AIDS policy which was based on a broad interpretation of public health and supported by political decision-makers.