national public health institute

What national public health institute does

National Public Health Institute (THL, Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos / National Institute for Health and Welfare) is a Finnish government research and expert institute operating under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Established on January 1, 2009 through the merger of Kansanterveyslaitos (National Public Health Institute) and Stakes (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health), THL is headquartered in Helsinki at Mannerheimintie 168. Its mission is to produce reliable research information and solutions to support decision-making in the social and health sectors, with the goal of a population that is confident in the future and resilient to crises, living in a socially sustainable and functional society.

THL's core products are a portfolio of national health registries, statistical databases, and monitoring platforms rather than a unified commercial product. These include the Tartuntatautirekisteri (Infectious Disease Registry, ~100,000 annual notifications since 1995 under the Communicable Diseases Act), the HIV-rekisteri, the Sosiaalihuollon seurantarekisteri (Social Welfare Monitoring Registry aggregating Kanta and welfare area data), the Vanhuspalvelujen tila monitoring system (over 3,000 elderly service units), RAI functional capacity assessments, TEAviisari for health promotion indicators, and Sotkanet for nationwide comparable welfare statistics. Distribution is via open data portals (Sampo, Raportointi, TEAviisari, Sotkanet), the public thl.fi website, open-access publications via Julkari, professional guidelines, and international data sharing with WHO and ECDC.

THL is publicly funded through taxation, not a commercial company; there is no revenue model, pricing, or commercial product offering. Its primary customers are Finland's 21 welfare areas (hyvinvointialueet) responsible for organizing social and health services, the Finnish national government and municipalities, healthcare and social welfare professionals, and the general Finnish public. The organization operates exclusively in Finland (national scope) with international data sharing via WHO and ECDC partnerships.

Name

national public health institute

Legal name

Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos

Website

https://www.ktl.fi

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

National Public Health Institute (THL) is a Finnish government research institute under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health that operates national health and welfare registries, statistical databases, and monitoring systems for Finland's 21 welfare areas, government, healthcare professionals, and the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Research and Statistics

NAICS

Health Care and Social Assistance (62), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Information (51)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Data, Vital Statistics & Population Health Informatics (BPAIAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health Information Exchange & Public Health Data Integration (HLAJAJAD), Data Governance, Standards & Interoperability (ICD, HL7/FHIR, LOINC, SNOMED) (HLAJAJAM), Interoperability Standards, Profiles & Implementation (HL7/FHIR/IHE) (HLACABAA), FHIR/HL7 Data Repositories & Canonical Data Models (HLACAIAI), Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) for Global Health (BPADAIAO)

Keywords

• Public health research
• Health registries
• Welfare statistics
• Infectious disease surveillance
• National health monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Helsinki

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

THL is a Finnish government research and expert institution that produces reliable research information, maintains national health and welfare registries, and provides evidence-based guidance for health and welfare policy and service development. It offers a portfolio of public health data registers, statistical databases, monitoring systems, and research platforms covering infectious diseases, elderly care, social welfare, and mental health, published as open data for public health decision-making.

Product overview

THL (Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos / National Institute for Health and Welfare) is a Finnish government research and expert institution rather than a commercial product company. Its offerings consist of a portfolio of public health data registers, statistical databases, monitoring systems, and research platforms rather than a unified commercial product. Core offerings include national quality registers (HIV-rekisteri, Tartuntatautirekisteri), welfare area statistics on children/youth, elderly services, infectious diseases, and mental health (including ADHD), alongside monitoring tools like TEAviisari for health promotion and Sotkanet for indicators. These are published as open data and reports for public health decision-making, with some services providing reporting portals and biennial client satisfaction surveys.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HIV-rekisteri (HIV Registry)
• Tartuntatautirekisteri (Infectious Disease Register)
• Iäkkäiden palvelut (Services for Older People)
• TEAviisari (Physical Activity Promotion Monitoring)
• Kerro palvelustasi (National Client Satisfaction Survey for Older People's Services)
• Sosiaalihuollon seurantarekisteri (Social Welfare Monitoring Register)
• Healthcare Treatment Notification Registers (Avohilmo and TerveysHilmo)

Quantifiable outcome

• Maintains infectious disease registry with ~100,000 annual case notifications since 1995
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö (STM) - Ministry of Social Affairs and HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTHL operates under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health as Finland's national institute for health and welfare. STM provides funding and strategic direction for THL's research and monitoring activities.
• Valvontaviranomaiset - Supervisory authoritiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with supervisory authorities for monitoring and quality assurance in elderly care services and other welfare areas under the Services for Older People Act.
• WHO - World Health OrganizationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration for infectious disease surveillance and reporting. THL provides data to WHO and follows international standards for disease monitoring.
• ECDC - European Centre for Disease Prevention and ControlcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean collaboration for infectious disease surveillance. THL participates in EU-wide disease monitoring and shares data with ECDC.
• Ruokavirasto - Finnish Food AuthoritycoreTechnology or IntegrationJoint reporting system (RYMY) with Ruokavirasto for monitoring food and water-borne disease outbreaks in Finland.
• Kanta-palvelut - Kanta ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Kanta services for social welfare data. The Social Welfare Monitoring Registry collects data from Kanta services and welfare areas for comprehensive monitoring.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Robert Koch Institute (RKI): Germany's federal government agency for disease control and prevention. Operates national infectious disease surveillance, health monitoring, and biomedical research under the Federal Ministry of Health, making it the closest direct counterpart to THL.
• Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI): Norway's national public health institute conducting research, infectious disease surveillance, and providing evidence-based advice to authorities. Comparable Nordic mandate, registries, and government affiliation.
• Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten): Sweden's national public health agency responsible for infectious disease control, health monitoring, and preventive health work. Closely mirrors THL's mandate in the Nordic context.
• Sciensano: Belgian scientific institute for public and animal health, combining human health surveillance, disease registries, and research under a single national body. Comparable scope to THL across research and registries.

Broad incumbents

• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA): UK's government body for health security and infectious disease preparedness. Significantly larger scale and broader scope than THL, but directly comparable in infectious disease surveillance and national public health functions.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): US federal agency for public health, operating national disease surveillance, registries, and research at significantly larger scale. Comparable mission in national health data infrastructure, though much broader mandate and resources.

Regional players

• Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen): Denmark's national health authority handling public health, disease prevention, and health data. Comparable Nordic public health administration function, though structurally different (authority vs. research institute).
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): EU agency coordinating infectious disease surveillance across member states. THL shares data with and participates in ECDC networks; ECDC operates at a supranational level with comparable disease monitoring mandate.

Others

• Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus): Finnish national statistics agency producing population and welfare statistics. Adjacent ecosystem player sharing data infrastructure and statistical methodologies with THL, though focused on broader demographic statistics rather than health specifically.
• Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM): University of Helsinki-affiliated molecular medicine research institute. Adjacent Finnish health research ecosystem participant with overlapping biomedical and population health research interests, though not a government public health institute.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/THLfinland
• Facebookfacebook.com/thl.fi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-institute-for-health-and-welfare
• Instagraminstagram.com/thl.fi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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