Anti-tuberculosis program is regulated by the parliament

The Tuberculosis Act from 1948 stated that the primary responsibility for anti-tuberculosis programmes belonged to municipalities. Municipalities or federations of municipalities had to assume the responsibility of maintaining both the central sanatorium and the tuberculosis offices; municipalities were allocated 75 % state subsidy of the establishment expenses and a 50 % subsidy of the operating costs.

The tuberculosis offices were the places where the population was screened for disease. Every citizen who was over 15 obliged for screening. People suffering from tuberculosis had to follow safety regulations in order to prevent the disease spreading.

The law that came into force in 1949 stipulated that calmette vaccination, tuberculin tests and chest X-ray examinations be mandatory for all. The Anti-Tuberculosis Association had established 26 tuberculosis districts in the countryside, which covered the majority of the Finnish municipalities.

The tuberculosis districts were responsible for the post-care of the patients discharged from the sanatorium and for the early detection of new tuberculosis cases.

Each district had a mobile X-ray units. X-ray screening was the most effective tool in the fight against tuberculosis. The X-rays were taken on a film which doctors examined in the tuberculosis treatment offices.

Calmette vaccinations were administered since 1951 under the authority of the Central Häme tuberculosis office. At first the vaccination was given to new born babies, teenagers who had escaped the infection, and the children of TB families who had not been infected. Vaccination, which was voluntary in the beginning, provided immunity against tuberculosis bacteria.