Sweden earmarks spending to bolster primary healthcare strained by pandemic

Sweden's centre-left government will spend 6.8 billion crowns ($817 million) this year to build up primary healthcare services and to train health workers amid ongoing strains caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it said on Friday.

Sweden's centre-left government will spend 6.8 billion crowns ($817 million) this year to build up primary healthcare services and to train health workers amid ongoing strains caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it said on Friday. Around 3.2 billion crowns is for improving primary healthcare, with a similar amount intended for training and improving conditions for staff.

"We need to step up our efforts to make sure that more people want to, are able to, and can cope with working in healthcare," Health and Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren told a news conference. The rest of the spending will go toward strengthening the ambulance service and for online healthcare services. An additional 481 million crowns will go to improving women's health and to boost maternity services.

The pandemic has stretched Sweden's publicly financed healthcare system to the limit and the government has already increased subsidies to regional authorities - who are responsible for healthcare - by more than 25 billion crowns. The number of new COVID infections and hospitalizations have started to decline in recent weeks, but healthcare in many parts of the country remains under pressure.

On Friday, Sweden registered 2,400 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest number for three months. In total Sweden, with a population of around 10.2 million, has registered 566,957 COVID-19 cases while 11,591 people have died. ($1 = 8.3217 Swedish crowns)