The Finnish Medical Association has called for the authorities to prohibit faith healing, particularly in the case of young children and seriously infirm adults, the news consortium Lännen Media reported Monday.
Faith healing refers to healing by religious belief and prayer, rather than science-based medical procedures and therapies.
The association said that it would like to see a provision for regulation of faith healing in the next government’s programme.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health also said that it considers current regulations relating to faith healing to be inadequate and that there is too little oversight of the practice.
The medical association said that legislation should define which patient groups should exclusively be treated by medical professionals. The organisation said that in legislation should require medical treatment for children as well as adults who cannot make decisions about medical care, either due to mental health problems or disabilities.
In the case of patients who are critically ill, the association would introduce a duty for persons providing alternative care to consult with patients’ physicians.