News
10.03.2020
The Health Board: international events must be postponed to the second half of the year
The Health Board advises organizers of international events to postpone the upcoming events to the second half of the year due to the worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Health Board proceeds its decision from the epidemiological situation in the world, especially in Estonia and the European Union. The Health Board adviser Karena Leiger said that the spread of the coronavirus in European countries shows that international events can encourage local spread of the coronavirus.
„This includes events, where participants from countries at risk, are expected,“ said Leiger and added that...
10.03.2020
Health Board: rapid coronavirus tests are not reliable
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), rapid coronavirus tests are not reliable due to lack of validation and may therefore give false negative results.
Mari-Anne Härma, Head of the Infectious Disease Monitoring and Epidemic Control Department of the Health Board, says that infection can currently be detected by the analysis of nasopharyngeal and throat swabs, as the person spreads the virus with droplets, by for example, coughing and sneezing. "The reliability of rapid tests has not yet been confirmed, and therefore, their use can be dangerous in terms...
05.03.2020
Third coronavirus case confirmed in Estonia
Yesterday the Health Board laboratory analyzed 43 coronavirus samples, with one positiive test result. The infected person arrived in Riga on the 29th of February on a flight from Bergamo, Italy. The person developed symptoms of a fever and bone and joint pain. The infected person is on home treatment and is being monitored by the Health Board.
The possibility of infection transmission is low
Although both infected persons from Tartu and Tallinn traveled on the same plane, the two cases of coronavirus may not be related. In order to define the source of infection, the Health Board will...
03.03.2020
Second coronavirus case confirmed in Estonia
The Health Board has confirmed a second Covid-19 case in Estonia today, on March 3 2020.
The infected person arrived in Riga on the 29th of February on a flight from Bergamo, Italy. Then the person travelled to Estonia with a personal vehicle. The victim currently has mild symptoms of Covid-19 and is being monitored at home.
The Estonian Health Board is in the process of locating all the people who have had contact with the infected person. Anyone who has been in close contact is being actively monitored: they are required to stay at home for 14 days and the Health Board will check...
04.12.2018
Estonia and Finland will start exchanging healthcare data by end of 2018
Estonia and Finland will start exchanging healthcare data by end of 2018.
An EU project e-Health Digital Service Infrastructure (eHDSI) is successfully advancing.
Estonia and Finland are likely to be the first countries to start exchanging digital prescriptions already by the end of this year, as they both have already gone through the necessary auditing process. So, hopefully, by the end of this year, the first cross-border digital prescriptions will have been exchanged in the EU.
Services will be implemented step-by-step. Sweden, Greece and Cyprus should follow in 2019...
21.12.2017
Estonian government adopted an action plan to stop the HIV epidemic
The Estonian Government approved the National HIV Action Plan for the years 2017-2025, developed in cooperation of the Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Institute for Health Development. According to the Action Plan, the state aims to take vigorous steps to stop the HIV epidemic, including reducing the number of new HIV infections by more than half.
In Estonia, there are 17 new HIV cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which is the highest in the European Union. In 2016, we had in total 230 new cases in Estonia. The aim of the HIV action plan is to bring the number of new cases to the...