Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1959, Side 238
1959
236
13. Artificial Abortion (cf. table
XII).
During the year 41 artificial abor-
tions took place under the Birth Con-
trol Act, which came into operation
in 1935. In 16 out of tliese 41 cases
social as well as medical indications
had been taken into consideration.
14. Accidents. The figure of deaths
by accidents (including suicide) is
0.77 per 1000 of the whole popula-
tion.
1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Deaths hy Suicide 23 20 14 9 11
Deaths by
other Violence 68 61 65 77 121
The distribution of deaths by acci-
dents is shown on pp. 69—70.
15. Care of Infants may be said to
be fairly good, the great majority of
the children being breast-fed at least
for the first weeks. The midwives
have made out a report (table XIII)
concerning 4722 infants born during
the year. Reports on the nutrition of
infants were submitted in 4614 cases
which accordingly were grouped as
follows (Reykjavik figures in
brackets):
Breast-fed ... 88.95 p.c. (97.30 p.c.)
Breast-
and bottle-fed 7.58 — ( 0.99 — )
Bottle-fed only 3.47 — ( 1.71 — )
16. Health Officials and Auxiliary
Personnel (cf. table I). The total num-
ber of licensed medical men in Iceland
was 269 in 1959. There are 57 medical
districts. The number of midwives
holding appointments is 142 while
the number of districts is about 200.
Trained nurses do little service out-
side hospitals and institutions. Den-
tists are few (53 in the whole
country). Trained dispensing chemists
are only in the Iarger towns, in villages
and in the country the district medi-
cal officers have a small drug store.
17. General Insurance. The National
Insurance Act of 1936 (amended
several times) covers besides disea-
ses: accident, disablement and old
age insurance, sickness insurance
being obligatory for the whole coun-
try since 1 October 1951.
At the end of the year 103673 per-
sons were registered insured under
the National Insurance Act, organi-
zed in 225 sickness-benefit societies,
children under 16 years being insured
with their parents or foster-parents.
18. Food and Nutrition. Public in-
spection of food has taken place in
this country since 1936, when the
Food Adulteration Act came into
force. This Act provides for com-
prehensive control of all articles of
food and other nutrients. This in-
spection is in the hands of the di-
strict medical officers of health and the
sanitary committees, in co-operation
with the local police authorities. The
chemical analysis work is done at the
public Chemical Analysis Institute in
Reykjavík.
19. Hospitals, large and small, in
1959 numbered 40 in the whole coun-
try, with 1667 beds, or 9.6 beds per
1000 inhabitants, 35 of this number
being general hospitals, with 1180 beds
(6.8 per 1000). In the tuberculosis
sanatoria there are 188 beds (about
1.1 per 1000). Of other special ho-
spitals may be mentioned: 2 lunatic
asylums and 1 leprosarium. The ho-
spitalization days in all hospitals
amounted to 3.3 per head for the
whole population: in the general ho-
spitals the figure was 2.4 and in the
sanatoria 0.27 (cf. also tables XVII—
XVIII).
Patients in general hospitals this
year may be classified as follows:
Epidemic Diseases........ 3.50 p.c.
Venereal Diseases ........... 0.03 —
Tuberculosis ................ 0.43 —
Hydatid Disease.......... 0.06 —
Cancer—Malignant Growths 4.47 —
Births, Miscarriages etc. .. 11.57 —-
Violence .................... 6.36 —
Other Diseases ............. 73.58 — •