Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1927, Side 91

ported and 8 deaths registered. Formerly this disease was very frequent.
5. Some sanitary questions. — The sanitary organisa-
tion of the country has undergone no alterations in this year. — The num-
ber of trained m e d i c a 1 m e n was 98, of trained midwives 197, of
druggists 10 an<i of dentists 10. — The numfoer of hospitals (most
of them smal! chalet-hospitals) was 29 with 743 beds or 7,2 beds per 1000
inhabitants. In general hospitals there are 423 beds, in sanatoria 210, in
the lunatic asylum 50 and in the leprcsy hospital 60 beds. This year 4
new hospitals were established. One of them, Kristnes sanatorium for
tuberculosis (60 beds), is heated by water from a hot spring, a cheap
and very effective mode of heating. — The „L í k n“ dispensary
and nursing society has continued its activities as before, the number of
visits paid to tuberculous patients being 2332 and 10049 to other patients.
— The Icelandic Red Cross has maintained a nursing service at Sand-
gerSi and given courses in first aid and homenursing. — The U n. i v e r-
sity laboratorium for bacteriology, the only institution of its
kind in the country, has done all the necessary work for the health ad-
ministration.
M a t e r n i t y. In 1927 seven deaths from childbearing were regis-
tered (4 in 1926), an unusual high figure. — The care of infants
is, all circumstances being considered, satisfactory as may be seen from
the low infant mortalbv. In 1026 it was 40.3 per 1000 births, but this
year the figure was 78,8 the whooping cough epidemic proved fatal to
manv child'ren in the first vear (54 boys, 42 girls).
H o u s i n g in Iceland has !)een very primitive, especially in the rural
districts. In Iceland there is a great scarcity of builcling material, no
woods, no clay suitable for tiles are to be found and the usual natural
stones (basalt and dolerit) are poor materials for building purposes. Most
cf the old houses were therefore made of grass-sod and raw stones in
the same manner as may still be seen in the Hebrides islands. These old
houses are disanpearing and the new buildings are usually made of pou-
red concrete with floors of reinforced concrete. As the concrete walls are
good conducters and fuel verv scarce. the outer walls are isolated with
ccrknla^es or the walls are made double with a spacious cavity between
filled with dry peat-dust. This last method is much in use in the rural
districts and is both economic and effective. Many of the new houses
have central-heating, electric light, W. C. and bathrooms. In several pla-
ces hot springs are used for heating purposes. On manv farms smal!
waterpower-stations have been built for heating and lightening of the
farmhouses.
Inspertion of schools bv the phvsicians is obligatorv in Ice-
land, but has been performed in various manner by various physicians,
so it is very difficult to compare or summarize the reports. Recentlv new
report blanks have bf-en distributed m the hone. that both the inspection
and the reports will become more effective and easier to compare.
Vaccination is legallv enforced in Iceland since 1810. In 1027
2028 children were vaccinated for the first time, 81% with full reaction
and 2103 revarcinated, 60% with full reaction.