One in three children in Estonia aged 6–13 is overweight or obese. Pricing policies, including the taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), has been recommended by WHO as one policy measure that can lower the consumption of SSBs and reduce obesity and the burden of obesity-related diseases. 89.2% of Estonian school children drink SSBs and it is known that the average daily energy consumpti...

Background: Initiating a National Poisoning Information Centre (PIC) in Estonia took about 12 years of challenging work on research, training and attracting governmental support and funding. In this study we described the establishment process and the profile of phone calls in the first year which the PIC started to be available full time (24h/day 7days/week).  Methods: This was a descriptive ...

Estonia has one of the most established e-voting systems in the world. Internet voting remote e-voting using the voter’s own equipment was piloted in 2005 [12] (with the first real elections using e-voting being conducted the same year) and has been in use ever since. So far, the Estonian internet voting system has been used for the whole country in three sets of local elections, two European P...

This analysis of the Estonian health system reviews recent developments in organization and governance, health financing, health-care provision, health reforms and health system performance. Without doubt, the main issue has been the 2008 financial crisis. Although Estonia has managed the downturn quite successfully and overall satisfaction with the system remains high, it is hard to predict th...

To the Editor: Alveolar echinoco-ccosis (AE) caused by Echinococcus multilocularis is one of the most important emerging zoonosis in Europe. The fatality rate is >90% in untreated patients (1). In Europe, the distribution range of the zoonotic tapeworm E. multilocularis has expanded over the last few decades, and the parasite attracts increasing awareness as a public health issue (2–5). In 2003...

This case study provides an overview of the process and effects of forest certification in Estonia. The discussion regarding forest certification was initiated in Estonia in the mid-1990s as environmental NGOs started to highlight the potential benefits of certification. The issue was discussed further in the working groups of the National Forest Development Program, bringing it to the attentio...