The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1964, Qupperneq 30

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Winter 1964
had only increased 'to eight, serving a
population of about 60,000. Since that
time the number of medical districts
has increased more rapidly until now
there are 57, serving the present popu-
lation of about 175,000. Active phys-
icians in the country now number
about 210.
The district medical officers look
after public health, carry out immun-
izations, and do other medical and
surgical work, sometimes major surg-
ery. They are paid by the government
and also receive fees for various ser-
vices, but these are low when com-
pared with similar fees in other coun-
tries.
Some of the hospitals in Iceland are
owned and run by the government, and
others by the districts, only a few be-
ing privately owned. A leprosy hospital
was established in 1898 which has al-
most exterminated a disease fairly
common in Iceland for centuries. The
first tuberculosis sanitarium was est-
ablished in 1910 and an extremely
prudent Tuberculosis Act was passed
in 1921 under which tuberculous pa-
tients are furnished free stay and treat-
ment in hospitals. Today the state of
health in Iceland is on the whole
excellent.
The same cannot be said of the posi-
tion of doctors. Failure to earn an ad-
equate living is reported as having
led to the emigration of many Icelandic
doctors, so that the country is now con-
fronted with an acute shortage, to
such an extent that it was predicted
that by 1966 it will be impossible to
maintain the present level of hospital
service. The president of the Iceland
Medical Association is reported to
have stated that doctors in 'the capital,
Reykjavik, work 55 to 85 hours a week.
The maximum earned by general
practitioners is said to be equal to only
a little over 200 dollars a month.
About 25 per cent of all Icelandic
doctors are practising abroad, mainly
in Sweden. This is of interest to Can-
ada since, from 1933, Canada has made
several grants to Icelandic doctors
from public funds (The Canadian Ice-
land Scholarship Fund). Icelandic doc-
tors have for many years had to go
abroad for advanced study. Only a few
of them have been able to afford the
whole of the cost themselves. Icelandic
scholarships have been few and would
not have gone far but for the help ol
other countries.
Since the period between the wars
many Icelandic doctors have benefited
from further education in the United
States and United Kingdom as well as
in Canada. In a resolution passed by
the Medical Society of Reykjavik it is
stated “the friendly help given by the
United States, the United Kingdom
and Canada to Icelandic doctors has
been of great significance to our na-
tional health program and is highly
appreciated by the medical profession.’.
In 1964 a fairly comprehensive Social
Security Act was passed in Iceland.
This incorporated schemes which had
been in force for many years and they
have since been amended to bring
them into line with modern conditions.
In accordance with this legislation
sickness insurance societies were est-
ablished in all parts of the country.
These societies pay in full for the stay
in approved hospitals for patients
with acute diseases and for a given
period for patients suffering from
chronic diseases. They also pay the
main expenses for medicine and the
treatment outside of the hospital. On
the other hand the government pays
the hospitals’ expenses for patients suf-
fering from chronic diseases such as
mental disease and tuberculosis.
The first law relating to pensions in
Iceland goes back as far as 1909, and