Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1960, Qupperneq 185

— 183 —
1960
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 4735 infants born during
the year. Reports on the nutrition of
infants were submitted in 4C17 cases
which accordingly were grouped as
follows (Reykjavik figures in
brackets):
Breast-fed ... 87.70 p.c. (95.63 p.c.)
Breast-
and bottle-fed 8.19 — ( 0.91 — )
Bottle-fed only 4.11 — ( 3.46 — )
16. Health Officials and Auxiliary
I'ersonnel (cf. table I). The total num-
ber of licensed medical men in Iceland
was 278 in 1960. There are 57 medical
districts. The number of midwives
holding appointments is 134, while
the number of districts is about 200.
Trained nurses do little service out-
side hospitals and institutions. Den-
tists are few (53 working in tlie whole
country). Trained dispensing chemists
are only in the larger 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.
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 thc
sanitary committees, in co-operation
with the local police authorities. The
chemical analysis work is done at the
public Chemical Analysis Institute in
Iteykjavík.
19. Hospitals, large and small, in
1960 numbered 40 in the wliole coun-
try, with 1727 beds, or 9.74 beds per
1000 inhabitants, 35 of this number
being general hospitals, with 1240 beds
(6.99 per 1000). In the tuberculosis
sanatoria there are 188 beds (about
1.06 per 1000). Of other special lio-
spitals may be mentioned: 2 lunatic
asylums and 1 leprosarium. The ho-
spitalization days in all hospitals
amounted to 3.4 per head for the
whole population: in the general ho-
spitals the figure was 2.4 and in the
sanatoria 0.28 (cf. also tables XVII—
XVIII).
Patients in general hospitals this
year may be classified as follows:
Epidemic Diseases ........... 3.09 p.c.
Venereal Diseases ........... 0.01 —
Tuberculosis ................ 0.33 —
Hydatid Disease.......... 0.05 —
Cancer—Malignant Growths 3.58 —
Births, Miscarriages etc. .. 22.65 —
Violence .................... 6.64 —
Other Diseases ............. 63.65 —
20. Immunization. In 1950 an Im-
munization Act was passed by the
Icelandic parliament and came into
force 1 January 1951. According to
the law immunization against small-
pox (vaccination) is still (since 1810)
obligatory and at the expense of the
Treasury, but further the Immuniza-
tion Act provides for and yields
public support to immunization
against diphtheria, enteric fever,
whooping cough, tuberculosis, polio-
myelitis and under special circum-
stances (travelling abroad) against still
other diseases. Immunizations per-
formed during the year are shown in
table XIX.