New Cancer Dashboard for Finland
How does cancer care in Finland compare to national goals, Nordic peers, and European benchmarks? This dashboard-style report provides a visual and quantitative description of selected performance indicators in all areas of cancer care. The analysis draws on both national and international data sources.
Finland has a substantial cancer burden due to its old population structure. Improvements in survival have been slower during the last 20 years compared to other Nordic countries, with Finland falling behind Norway and Sweden, and in some cancer types also behind Denmark. The National Cancer Strategy 2026-2035 acknowledges these challenges, but its implementation will be instrumental to improve the situation.
Prevention remains a key challenge, with rising overweight and obesity, declining HPV vaccination coverage, and smoking levels that remain above national targets. Early detection efforts are difficult to assess because of suboptimal data collection in the Finnish Cancer Registry. While participation rates in breast cancer screening are high, lung cancer screening has only been tested in a small pilot. Finland is also the only Nordic country without transparent national cancer care guidelines and standardized care pathways. It has also comparatively long waiting times to get a confirmed diagnosis, suboptimal use of advanced biomarker testing, and varying and sometimes low uptake of novel cancer medicines. Palliative care services have expanded but are still below European recommendations and cancer survivors face challenges in accessing financial services.
The dashboard was presented by Thomas Hofmarcher in Helsinki on April 22, 2026, at a joint event hosted by SSP, Filha, and MSD Finland.
For more information please contact Thomas Hofmarcher
The investigative documentary The Price of My Life (Elämäni hinta), produced by the Finnish public broadcaster YLE and released in April 2026, includes contributions from Thomas Hofmarcher as one of the expert commentators. Read more
Cancer Dashboard for Finland, IHE 2026, Lund, Sweden
Citera: Malmberg C, Hofmarcher T. Cancer Dashboard for Finland, IHE 2026, Lund, Sweden.
