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HEALTH

One billion Danish kroner assigned for ‘extraordinary’ health service spending

Significant extra funding is to be given to the Danish health service after the government and its parliamentary partners agreed a deal as part of the 2022 budget.

Published: 6 December 2021 16:58 CET
Denmark has an announced an emergency, one-off investment of one billion kroner on health services for winter 2021-22.
Denmark has an announced an emergency, one-off investment of one billion kroner on health services for winter 2021-22. File photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

The deal means a billion kroner has been set aside for additional spending in extraordinary circumstances, and will be used to retain health sector staff and boost hospital capacity.

Following weekend negotiations, the parties behind the budget revealed that it would include a significant one-off investment in the public health service, which has come under increasing strain due to factors including the Covid-19 pandemic and industrial disputes, notably between nurses and the government.

The money is to be distributed to the regional authorities who can decide how to spend it in consultation with staff organisations, broadcaster DR writes.

As such, it is currently unclear precisely how the spending will resolve issues such as treatment backlogs and staff shortages.

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“Not least because of corona, our health service has been put under a considerable strain and we have therefore decided to put aside an extraordinary one billion kroner for a temporary response during the winter so we can protect our health service, our staff and our patients,” finance minister Nicolai Wammen said during the presentation of the budget.

Health minister Magnus Heunicke also commented on the decision, DR reports.

“It’s very unusual to give a billion kroner to one area in this way as part of a budget. But this is also an unusual situation,” Heunicke said.

The leader of one of the other parties behind the budget, Pia Olsen Dyhr of the Socialist People’s Party, called the decision an “acute solution”.

“But we are obviously not solving the big problem with equal pay or the health service in general. This is an acute solution which is needed at a very, very difficult time after two years with corona,” Dyhr said.

A trade union for social care workers expressed backing for the decision.

“This is a package that is extremely welcome. We’re in an extremely critical situation at hospitals and something needed to be done now. But it’s too early to speculate about what it will mean exactly for our members,” Mona Strib, head of FOA, the union that represents healthcare personnel including hospital social care staff, said in comments reported by DR.

“It could mean that some go from working part time to full time for a while, that some have a high amount of overtime, and that tasks are distributed between staff groups temporarily. We’ll see a hybrid of different solutions,” Strib added.

The deal also includes provisions to extend a freeze on taxation of extra income for people who take on extra jobs related to Covid-19 (such as retirees who work at test centres, for example).

It also earmarks spending to reduce processing times for authorisation of foreign health professionals, an area which is currently subject to severe delays.

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HEALTH

‘Live Danish, die young’: How unhealthy are young people in Denmark?

'Live Danish, die young' - is the new phrase from a movement to promote better health among young people in Denmark. But what does the latest data reveal about health issues among young Danes?

Published: 27 May 2024 12:30 CEST
Updated: 2 June 2024 05:35 CEST
'Live Danish, die young': How unhealthy are young people in Denmark?

Health and lifestyle issues among young Danish people have long been documented.

For example binge drinking and heavy smoking have been highlighted as a major problem among young Danes for years.

In 2019, a study by the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) found that 40 percent of young Danes aged 15-16 had been drunk in the past 30 days.

This was the highest rate in Europe at the time, where the average was just 13 percent.

On a broader level, multiple studies have also shown that Danes struggle when it comes to physical activity levels.

That’s why a new alliance of over 20 patient organisations, medical guilds, and insurance companies is now calling for better preventative health in Denmark.

A new call to action

The alliance believes Danes smoke and drink too much, do insufficient exercise, and have shorter average life spans than their Scandinavian counterparts.

“The Danes have an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle compared to other Nordic countries. We smoke and drink significantly more, and our diet and exercise could also be better. Live Danish, die young, I usually say,” Jes Søgaard, professor emeritus in health economics at the University of Southern Denmark, told the TV2 broadcaster.

The alliance, led by the insurance company Danica, has prepared ten proposals for targets it wants the government to commit to achieving by 2035, including a 2.5-year increase in longevity, an increase in physical activity, and a halving of young people’s binge drinking.

However, while obesity and physical inactivity are both singled out as significant issues plaguing the Danish population frequently, alcohol consumption has emerged as the most notable lifestyle-related health challenge.

Troubling statistics

Young people aged 16 to 24 in the country have topped survey findings as the age category that consumed the most alcohol for more than a decade, from 2010 to 2021.

However, according to the most recent National Health Profile survey, which gathered responses from thousands of Danes about their health, illness, and well-being, it is now the older population (those over 65) that leads when it comes to alcohol consumption.

The National Health Profile survey shows that more than one in five Danes aged 65 or older drink more than ten alcoholic beverages in a typical week.

In comparison, only 10.4 percent of Danes aged 35 to 44 reported drinking at that level.

Anette Søgaard Nielsen, a professor at the Unit for Clinical Alcohol Research at the University of Southern Denmark, told DR that the older generation grew up in a prosperous society where alcohol was a significant part of the social culture.

As they transition into retirement, many continue or even increase their alcohol consumption due to more free time and disposable income, and some seniors also use alcohol as a form of self-medication or to cope with loneliness and other psychological issues, Søgaard Nielsen explained.

However, while seniors have overtaken the young on the top of the findings, the level of consumption among Danish youth is still troublingly high, as 19 per cent reported drinking more than ten alcoholic beverages in a typical week (which is roughly the same percentage as the one among 55-64-year-olds). 

Unhealthy habits: How does Denmark fare at the EU level?

Several things stand out when comparing Denmark’s population to that of its European Union (EU) peers.

According to the European Commission’s latest Country Health Profile Report for 2023, behavioural risk factors accounted for at least 40 percent of deaths in Denmark in 2019.

While tobacco smoking rates in Denmark have significantly decreased over the past two decades, they remained higher than those in other Nordic countries.

In 2019, over one in three Danes (38 percent) engaged in regular heavy drinking, the highest proportion in the EU.

Adult obesity rates also increased to 16 percent in 2019, aligning with the EU average.

Efforts to address these issues

National efforts to reduce smoking have focused on younger generations, as outlined in Denmark’s 2019 National Action Plan against Children and Young People Smoking.

One of the key objectives of this plan is to create a smoke-free youth generation by 2030. To help achieve this goal, a smoking ban in schools was implemented in 2021.

Given Denmark’s history of being Europe’s heaviest drinkers, the government has launched several initiatives to strengthen alcohol control policies.

In March 2022, the Danish Health Authority tightened national guidelines on low-risk drinking for both young people and adults.

The main recommendation is that children under 18 should not drink alcohol, and adults should limit their intake to no more than 10 drinks per week, with no more than 4 drinks per day.

In November 2023, the Danish Ministry of Health announced new measures to restrict alcohol sales to minors and increase the price of nicotine pouches.

“Children and young people are starting to drink far too early and they are drinking too much,” said Health Minister Sophie Løhde at the time.

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