AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.09.2003, Page 23

basis for prejudice. The ‘68 gen-
eration will not take this in silence
and make do with „minimum
existence index“ and swallow
antidepressants.
8. When I was Surgeon General I
did a lot of work on social-, phys-
ical-, and psychological problems
of those who are marginalized in
society. With regard to the elder-
ly, this was my duty because
according to law, everyone has
the right to health and social
services in all fields. This is a
competition for a standard of life
and in this connection, my field of
work has not changed much. It
continues to be a battle with
politicians and people in the sys-
tem. The aged fill the waiting lists
in the hospitals. The same applies
to nursing homes. The aged are
not a priority class not even when
it comes to social issues. This
has become a fight for capital,
grants and wages.
If the number of immigrants to
Europe does not increase sub-
stantially during the next decades
the average age in Europe, and
even in Scandinavia as well, will
be higher than 50 years. „Europe
will be the home of the old and
poor." This development will how-
ever probably be slower in
lceland because of higher fertility
rate. The average age in the
United States will be lower
because of the number of immi-
grants.
Varied retirement age In 1988 the
Surgeon General put forward the
proposal to Parliament that varied
retirement age from 64-74 should
be adopted. Parliament approved
this partially by appointing a com-
mittee, which stopped working
after several years. Fourteen
years later, a proposal was sub-
mitted to Parliament of flexible
retirement age from 64-72 years.
This matter was taken up again
as a result of pressure from the
elderly. This perhaps took a long
time but is nevertheless some-
thing to be glad for. ■
Adventure at Sea
The whales are only 20 minutes away
when you are in downtown Reykjavík.
Elding Whale Watching offers a variety
of exciting boat tours from Reykjavík,
daily whale watching tours and exciting
deep sea fishing tours.
Elding Whale Watching is conveniently
located in the old harbour district, close
to Reykjavík city centre.
Whale watching tours are scheduled
from April through October.