Polis sverige covid
At the start of the pandemic, the Swedish healthcare system were instead relying on a " just-in-time " deliveries of medication and medical equipment, and Sweden had no medicin manufacturing of its own, which was considered to make the country's drug supply vulnerable as it relied on global trade and long supply lines. Since a revision to prepare for the swine flu pandemic , the plan includes the formation of a National Pandemic Group NPG in the event of a possible pandemic.
In the Swedish political system , the cabinet with legislative authority is mandated to follow the advice of government agencies in this case the Public Health Agency and very rarely overrules this, as ministerial governance is prohibited beneath the Basic Laws of Sweden. The strategi states that the Public Health Agency of Sweden will be the expert agency responsible for monitoring diseases with a pandemic potential, and with the mandate to assemble the National Pandemic Group to coordinate pandemic preparations and strategies on a national level between the relevant agencies.
In risk and impact assessments by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency , the Swedish expert agency on crisis management , the risk of Sweden in the future being affected by a severe pandemic was assessed as "high" with a "catastrophic" impact on human health and economics. Sweden received high rankings regarding prevention of the emergence of a new pathogen , early detection and reporting of an epidemic of international concern and having a low risk environment.
Additionally, the Swedish state had several preparedness hospitals and Swedish schools were constructed to be converted into hospital units in case of a military conflict and with a total capacity of treating , patients, supported by a network of preparedness storages containing medicine and medical equipment. They believed that a future pandemic would be inevitable within 5—50 years. Crisis management in Sweden instead follows the "principle of responsibility".
However, a lack of regulations meant that the companies had no incentive to keep a bigger stock than necessary, effectively leaving Sweden without an entity responsible for medicin preparedness. As the outbreak spread, the agency advised those with respiratory symptoms to avoid social contacts, work from home if possible, minimise travel, and adhere to social distancing. While many countries imposed nationwide lockdowns and curfews, the Swedish government did not föreslå such measures.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, the Swedish Defence Forces owned 2 medical units with a total of 96 beds, out of which 16 were ICU beds, and there were no civil preparedness storages for medical equipment left in Sweden. From and onwards, the system was gradually dismantled to eventually disappear altogether, with the equipment, including more than new ventilators, being either given away or disposed of.
The virus and the illness
Sweden had made preparations for a pandemic in previous years, with the Public Health Agency of Sweden designated as the responsible body in a disease outbreak but without the authority to pass laws itself. Swedish crisis management is built on a principle of responsibility which means that the organisation who fryst vatten responsible for an area of activity beneath normal circumstances is also responsible for that area of activity during a crisis.
Sweden 's unique response to the COVID pandemic has been the subject of significant controversy in both domestic and international circles. The group involves several Swedish government agencies and defines each agency's role. The risk of spread to Sweden was described as "very low" as there was yet no bevis that the virus could spread between humans , but they recommended that individuals developing cough or fever after visiting Wuhan should seek medical care, and asked for healthcare professionals to be observant.
They also pointed out that issues concerning prioritising, including triage , would become central during the crisis, and that they believed this subject needed to be addressed. The field hospitals had a combined capacity of treating 10, patients and performing surgeries every 24 hours, as well as stockpiles with drugs, medical supplies and personal protective equipment to treat , war casualties. Press conferences and public communications campaigns were also launched.
In , the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency investigated Sweden's ability to cope with a pandemic through a simulation where a severe avian influenza infects a third of the population, out of which , gets severely ill, and up to 10, die from the disease. Unlike most other countries, face masks were not recommended in public or healthcare settings. Unlike most countries, which strongly recommended or introduced widespread sector closures, quarantining, and lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease , the government of Sweden took a more lenient approach to the pandemic, prioritizing the economy and only pursuing social distancing measures such as bans on large gatherings and limited travel restrictions.
We have looked at a number of European Union countries to see whether they have published any analysis of the effects of these measures before they were started and we saw almost none. The Swedish healthcare struktur was already experiencing a growing number of backordered drugs in the years leading up to the pandemic. They noted that Swedish hospitals were already under heavy burden, and wouldn't have the capacity to treat everyone who become sick, even when alternative facilities like schools and sports centres were used as hospitals.
Sweden's unique approach also became a divisive topic of debate, receiving significant international media coverage and criticism both domestically and internationally, and with those who oppose or support public health restrictions often citing the Swedish response as an example. An independent commission was launched to evaluate the measures taken by the government, the administrative health authorities, and regional municipalities.
Until , the Swedish state-run pharmacy chain Apoteket had the responsibility to ensure drug supply in case of emergency. As the Public Health Agency of Sweden , headed by director general Johan Carlson, is the agency responsible of monitoring and preventing the spread of infectious diseases, the agency had a huvud role in the Swedish response to the pandemic. Following the outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu , Sweden drafted their first national pandemic plan which since then had undergone several revisions.
The government passed a law banning large gatherings, and secondary and higher education institutions were advised to switch to distance education. The lack of medicine preparedness had been strongly criticised in several inquiries and reports since by a number of Swedish governmental agencies, including the Swedish National Audit Office , the Swedish Defence Research Agency and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency.
Upon the outbreak of the COVID pandemic , the Public Health Agency initiated contact tracing and outlined its strategy to protect the country's most vulnerable citizens and prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed. On 18 December , Stefan Löfven , the prime minister of Sweden , announced new and tougher restrictions and recommendations including the use of face masks in public transportation and closure of all non-essential public services.
Reception for the government's response has been mixed. According to the Swedish Public Health Agency , the Swedish strategy aimed to protect its senior and vulnerable citizens, and to slow down the spread of the virus, to keep the healthcare system from getting overwhelmed. The latter had regarded disturbances in the drug supply as one of their biggest concerns in their annual risk assessments. They concluded that Sweden was generally well prepared, with pandemic plans on both national and regional level, but that the health-care system would be the weak link.
Current rules and recommendations
The total number of ICU beds in Swedish hospitals was By the time of the Fall of the Berlin vägg in , the Swedish Defence Forces was equipped with a total of 35 field hospitals , with what some considered to be the most modern battlefield medicine in the world, with the Swedish Navy having an additional 15 hospitals. After the World Health Organization classified the novel Coronavirus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January and demanded that all member states should cooperate to prevent further spread of the virus, the Agency requested for the Swedish government to classify the novel disease as a notifiable infectious disease in the Swedish Communicable Diseases Act as both dangerous to public health allmänfarlig and dangerous to society samhällsfarlig , where contact tracing is required, [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] giving the disease the same legislative status as Ebola , SARS and Smallpox.
However, the Swedish healthcare system received a lower score, questioning if it was sufficient and robust enough to treat the sick and protect health workers.