Hospital care is free of charge for those who need it, irrespective of age or social class. Handicapped children are increasingly being included in ordinary child-care facilities and taught in public schools, although special care is also provided. Institutions for handicapped children have become modernized and in many cases handicapped children grow up in their own homes. The increasing social problems of alcohol and drug abuse are a threat and a matter of constant concern in the Nordic countries. Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden operate state-owned alcohol monopolies, in which alcoholic beverages are sold at high prices in the hope of reducing consumption.
Drugs are entirely illegal.
Treatment centres for these problems are open to all citizens free of charge.