(cont. from § 8) Public Health (cont. SoU12)

Jakob Olofsgård (L)

Mr. Speaker! Since my voice is having a bit of difficulty today, I choose to focus on an important area within public health policy, namely mental ill-health, which today can be seen as a common disease. Many are far from doing well today.

Mental health is ultimately about freedom. Who doesn't want to live their life and get an education, function at work together with colleagues, or dream about a future? But when life becomes too heavy, none of this works, and then the right support from society, and receiving it at the right time, becomes absolutely crucial. Therefore, the government's work with mental health and suicide prevention is one of our time's most important welfare issues. It is about life and a society that clearly and actively works for good and equal mental health for everyone in our country – for both young and old. No one should have to experience that suicide is the only way out when life is at its heaviest. This is addressed by the government in various ways.

We are working for an important shift: to move from point interventions to a long-term, coherent effort. The four overarching goals in the strategy for mental health and suicide prevention concern better mental health, fewer cases of suicide, reduced inequalities, and fewer negative consequences of psychiatric conditions.

We need to remind ourselves of something crucial. Mental health is not primarily created in authority corridors, and perhaps not even here in the chamber. It is created in everyday life, where people are. It is created in the family, in school, at work, and in community life. Therefore, it is particularly welcome that the strategy emphasizes early interventions for children and young people. It also emphasizes working life and a society where people feel included and have trust in one another. Investing in the mental health of young people is not just about social policy, but it is also future policy. Children and young people are, after all, our future.

Mr. Speaker! We need a system that is knowledge-driven and at the same time is open to innovation and seriously takes advantage of local engagement. Professionals shall be given space to use their competence. People shall be met by other people of flesh and blood and not solely be seen as cases.

The Public Health Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare have a responsibility, together with other agencies, to coordinate these measures. It is important that it works between, for example, the school and social services. One should not be tossed around or fall between the chairs when suffering from poor mental health. Cooperation must be practical, not bureaucratic and complicated.

Mr. Speaker! When a child or a young person chooses to end their life, the strategy highlights the importance of the work with investigations after suicide. When a child dies by suicide, society must always learn. Even when adults pass away, there must be an opportunity to do the same. We must never be content with merely reacting; we also need to act, analyze, and constantly improve our interventions. We need to seek out and understand systemic failures, identify risk factors, and develop effective interventions. Such knowledge saves lives.

Mr. Speaker! We know that conversations save lives. The national support line Hjälplinjen is an important complement to the efforts of healthcare and civil society. For someone in crisis, Hjälplinjen's low threshold and anonymity can be decisive. A conversation at the right moment can change an entire life. Here we see how the public sector and other actors can together build a stronger safety net.

Civil society deserves to be highlighted in particular. Voluntary organizations reach people who otherwise risk becoming invisible. They offer community, support, and hope. Therefore, there are state grants of 150 million kronor to organizations within mental health and suicide prevention. It is not just a support but also a recognition that civil society organizations are crucial.

Mr. Speaker! In my thoughts, I have many faces of people, especially young people, whom I have met in my previous professional role. I have met them at the bottom of life, in the soul's dark night, when all hope is gone and the gazes are empty.

There and then, there need to be fellow human beings who light a candle, a flame of hope, when another person cannot manage on their own. There need to be someone who walks by that person's side, who is there, close, and has patience – someone to lean on, who gives the hope back. There is nothing more beautiful than to see a human being get their spark of life back, lift their gaze again and believe in life.

That is why this policy becomes important. The national strategy for mental health and suicide prevention gives us tools, but it is our collective responsibility as a society to ensure that it is used correctly, with a focus on prevention, early interventions, freedom of choice, quality, and equal access to support – when it is needed and where it is needed.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Christofer Bergenblock (C)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you to Member Jakob Olofsgård for the speech!

I agree, in particular, with the part of the speech that dealt with civil society organizations and their importance for mental well-being in society. This applies especially to children and young people, who are often dependent on association life, and also to the adult part of the population, who gladly find themselves under the auspices of study associations, just as retirees very often do, as do many of our people with disabilities.

It is therefore, Mr. Speaker, a bit paradoxical when the member stands and talks about how important this is, while we all in this chamber are aware of the cuts that the government and the Liberals, with the Minister for Education at the helm, have made during this parliamentary term. This year is the third year of cuts. In total, 500 million kronor have been taken away from our student unions. These are funds that could have gone to courses for children and young people, to those who want to form a band or learn a new language, to cultural activities for our elderly – we know that it is immensely important – or to those who want to learn to handle the internet and fraud in the digital world, which is one of all the courses offered.

But here, people have cut back. Here, people have reduced. They have struck at these important carriers in civil society. I find it very difficult to understand how this adds up, but perhaps the Liberal member can explain it to me. Why is it so important for the Liberals to pull the rug out from under the study associations?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jakob Olofsgård (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thanks to the Member, who raises a very relevant and valuable aspect of what is important. We share the view on civil society's role that I raised in the speech. We as people's movement parties know and see that very little money can make a big difference and that one can scale up even with small sums. It is first and foremost about where one has one's commitment and one's big heart.

Mr. Speaker! There is a large civil society that does an incredible amount and which this government, as I said in the speech, encourages and supports so that it can do more, especially when it comes to suicide prevention measures; it is about conversations and meeting places.

The chairman mentions, Mr. Speaker, study associations, which continue to have an absolutely important role in precisely this purpose – to prevent, help, and bring people back to a life, a community, and so on. When it comes to the measures concerning study associations, it is a debate that we can have when it concerns education and school. But we Liberals believe that they will continue to be an incredibly important part of the voluntary movement that our country is very much built on.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Christofer Bergenblock (C)

Mr. Speaker! Now we have a debate on public health, and the member has himself stated that civil society and study associations are a very important part of the work to improve public health. Then it is clear that it is relevant to conduct that debate here in the chamber right now.

I note all the kind words about the study associations and how important they are, not least for preventing ill health. But nevertheless, these cuts have been made, which take full effect this year. We have been able to see, region by region, how the study associations have cut back on staff and reduced the range of offerings. This has hit particularly hard those with disabilities and the elderly, who have been dependent on activities organized by the study associations, both courses and cultural activities. At the forefront of this, liberal education ministers have gone and struck at our study associations.

Now the member says, Mr. Speaker, that very little money can make a very big difference. That is interesting. Then perhaps the thought of the Liberals is that the more we lower the grants to the study associations, the better their activities will become. That is not quite what one hears when one listens to the study associations themselves and hears what the consequences have been of the cuts that the Liberals have made on the study associations.

This does not add up, Mr. Speaker. It is not correct. On one hand, you praise the activities of the study associations, and on the other hand, you pull the rug out from under them through draconian cuts. How is this the government's and the Liberals' policy to strengthen public health? How does this add up?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jakob Olofsgård (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thanks to the member for that we are once again able to raise the issue of study associations and how important they are! I have myself worked closely with study associations in my home county and seen the weight they have.

But I do not share the description that the study associations today have no possibility at all of being of any use. When I meet them today, I see that they are making great efforts within the area of functional disabilities and the elderly area. They are doing incredibly much today with the funds they receive.

We in the Liberals of course want to see the funds for the student unions increase moving forward. But we have now had a period where we have reviewed and regulated the finances surrounding the student unions because it was necessary. But they exist, and they will continue to work for better mental health. I can particularly highlight the area of loneliness, where they support and help the people who need help.

(Applause)

(cont. § 13)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)