International affairs

The National Board of Health and Welfare is responsible for health system and social service governance and regularly conduct health system performance assessments through analyses and official statistics. We issue guidelines for clinical treatments and monitor the adherence to recommendations. As part of our work, we also monitor the social services, implement government policies and assess their efficiency.

Our main international partners are

• EU
• WHO
• The Nordic Council of Ministers
• OECD
• The UN system
• NATO
• The Council of Baltic Sea States
• The Northern Dimension Parthership in Public Health and Social Well-being
• The Council of Europe

In some cases, the National Board of Health and Welfare represents Sweden (the Government Offices) in these collaborations, and in other cases we represent ourselves as a national expert agency. Examples of high-level representation from the National Board of Health and Welfare is for example the Swedish term as Member of the WHO Executive Board 2015-2018 and Chair of the OECD Health Committee 2017-2019. The Director-General acts as Head of Delegation for the Swedish WHO delegation to governing body meetings. Our current Director-General represents Sweden in the WHO Europe Standing Committee to the Regional Committee 2023-2026.

European collaboration in healthcare (Joint Actions)

In the European Union, collaboration in healthcare has been ongoing since the launch of the first health programme in 2008, and the collaboration has become more extensive over the years.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fragility of national health systems and the need for the EU Member States to work together to solve common health challenges.

Therefore, EU launched the EU4Health programme. The EU4Health programme will bring a contribution to the long-term health challenges by building stronger, more resilient and more accessible health systems across Europe. The EU4Health programme aims to:

• Protect people in the Union from serious cross-border threats to health.
• Enhance the availability, accessibility and affordability of medicinal products and devices.
• Improve and foster health and strengthen health systems.

The EU4Health programme contains so-called Joint Actions (JA). As the government agency for social and health services, The National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden is involved in many JA. This means that the Board is contributing to the development and improvement of methods in different areas of health. The methods can be used in Sweden as well as in other EU Member States and the EU4Health associated countries. The Board is involved in JA linked to:

• Primary care, CIRCE-JA https://circeja.nfz.gov.pl/
• Work force, JA HEROES https://healthworkforce.eu/
• Cancer
• Rare diseases
• Health data
• Antimicrobial resistance

Depending on the objective of each JA, the Board is collaborating with health care authorities and services of other countries, in addition to agencies, regions and municipalities in Sweden.

Besides the 27 EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, Ukraine and Moldova are associated to the EU4Health Programme and can participate in the different actions. Between 2021 and 2027, new actions will be published in the EU4Health annual work programmes.

More information about the EU4Health Programme and JA can be found at the European Commission's website:

EU4Health programme 2021-2027 – a vision for a healthier European Union (europa.eu)

The Public Health Agency of Sweden is the designated EU4Health National Focal Point. More information can also be found on their website (in Swedish):

EU:s Hälsoprogram – EU4Health 2021–2027 — Folkhälsomyndigheten (folkhalsomyndigheten.se)

Government representatives for the healthcare workforce

The National Board of Health and Welfare has been commissioned by the Government to appoint the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Chief Nurse Officer (CNO), Chief Dental Officer (CDO) and Chief Midwifery Officer (CMiO) of Sweden. These roles, to act as a national representative of the healthcare workforce, have long been placed at the Board due to our responsibilities linked to the health system and the health workforce. The roles are historically linked to WHO and the EU and act as contact points for professional and policy issues.

Government Chief Medical Officer

Every EU and WHO Member State has a contact point acting as liaison officer for health and medical care, with an emphasis on health workforce issues. In Sweden, this role is referred to as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), and it has traditionally been held by the Director-General of the National Board of Health and Welfare. At present, the role of CMO is held by Director-General dr. Björn Eriksson.

CMO:s meet twice a year under the auspices of the rotating EU presidencies, as well as during other occasions.

Government Chief Nurse Officer

Every EU and WHO Member State has a contact point acting as liaison officer for nursing care, with an emphasis on health workforce issues. In Sweden, this role is referred to as Chief Nurse Officer (CNO), and it is held by Charlotta George, RN.

CNO:s meet twice a year under the auspices of the rotating EU presidencies, as well as during other occasions.

Government Chief Dental Officer

Every EU and WHO Member State has a contact point acting as liaison officer for dental care, with an emphasis on health workforce issues. In Sweden, this role is referred to as Chief Dental Officer (CDO), and it is held by Head of Unit Mariana Blixt.

CDO:s meet twice a year under the auspices of the rotating EU presidencies, as well as during other occasions.

Government Chief Midwifery Officer

Many EU and WHO Member States have a contact point acting as liaison officer for midwifery, with an emphasis on women’s health and sexual and reproductive health. In Sweden, this role is referred to as Chief Midwifery Officer (CMiO), and it is held by Susanne Åhlund, RN.

CMiO:s meet twice a year under the auspices of the rotating EU presidencies, as well as during other occasions.