Protection against communicable diseases - Objective domain 7

Internationally speaking, Sweden is in a favourable position with regard to communicable diseases. This is mainly due to effective preventative measures such as targeted information campaigns, vaccination programs and measures targeting testing and contact tracing.

Recent trends, however, do show alarming increases in sexually transmitted diseases such as Chlamydia and HIV.  In addition, international threats of infectious diseases can result in a rapidly deteriorating situation as a result of increased travel. Therefore, it is imperative that society’s protection against infectious diseases maintains a high standard in order not to waste the progress that has already been made to reduce the occurrence of communicable diseases.

Intensified international cooperation in the field of infectious disease prevention is of great importance, and the Swedish Government assigns a high priority to infectious disease prevention issues both in the cooperation that takes place in the EU, in the immediate surroundings, and in the cooperation that takes place under the direction of the WHO and the rest of the UN system on a global basis.