Call-up working group proposes joint defence day and advance health checks for entire age group

The working group, appointed by the Ministry of Defence to develop call-ups, proposes a joint defence day for all 17-year-olds in educational institutions. During the defence day, young people would be given information on defence, conscription and comprehensive security. The aim would be to increase young men's awareness of the obligations related to the call-up age and young women's awareness of the possibility to apply for military service.

- One of the key goals of the call-up reform is to increase the number of women seeking voluntary military service. It is important that women considering voluntary service receive information well in advance, before the decision to apply, says Sami Nurmi, chair of the working group.

The actual call-ups, mandatory for men liable for military service and voluntary for women applying for voluntary service, would take place after the defence day and health checks. What is new is the proposal to combine call-ups and selection events for women's voluntary military service into a single joint event for both men and women.

The quality and coverage of preliminary health checks would be improved

The working group proposes that uniform health checks be organised for the entire age group in student health care regardless of gender. The reform would combine the preliminary health check of the Defence Forces and the health checks by student health care so that both the young person's ability to pursue studies and the assessment of fitness for military service would be taken into account.

Carried out in student health care, health checks would be more likely to reach all call-up candidates and their quality would improve when carried out in an environment where young persons are known. The model would include an electronic health survey carried out in the first year of study, electronically received feedback and health checks carried out by a nurse and a physician. The assessment of fitness for military service would be submitted electronically to the Defence Forces.

Based on the findings of the health checks, students could be referred to necessary forms of support. - The broader societal objective of the call-up reform is to promote the wellbeing and functional capacity of young people and to prevent social exclusion, says Sami Nurmi.
- Revised health checks would provide society with a more comprehensive view of young people's health and possible needs for support. All these measures would help to maintain and strengthen the high will to defend the country.

Development of the call-up system, working group report 

Inquiries:

Ministry of Defence:

Chair of the working group Sami Nurmi, Director of the National Defence Unit, sami.nurmi@gov.fi, tel. +358 295 140 330

Defence Command Finland:

Colonel Eero Svanberg, Vice Chair of the working group, eero.svanberg@mil.fi, tel. +358 299 800

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health:

Arja Ruponen, Ministerial Adviser, arja.ruponen@gov.fi, tel. +358 295 163 169

Ministry of Education and Culture:

Merja Hilpinen, Senior Specialist, merja.hilpinen@gov.fi, tel. +358 295 330 418

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