Health Services Iceland

All inhabitants of Iceland have the right of access to the best possible health service at any given time for the protection of their mental, social and physical health. The law ensures that there is no discrimination against patients on the grounds of sex, religion, beliefs, nationality, race, skin color, financial status, family relations or status in other respect.

The health service in Iceland is primarily financed by central government. Financing is mainly based on taxes or 85% and 15% is fee for service.

The country is divided into health care regions, each with their own primary health care centres, some of which are run jointly with the local community hospital. The primary health care centers have the responsibility for general treatment and care, examination, home nursing as well as preventive measures such as family planning, maternity care and child health care and school health care.

Hospitals in Iceland may be ranked as specialized teaching hospitals, general hospitals and community hospitals. Hospitalization is free of charge. The specialized hospitals perform most operations and procedures in all specialist medical fields. The health service is staffed by trained and qualified professional groups.

Life expectancy in Iceland (2008) is among the highest in the world. Average life expectancy at birth for females is 83,0 years and for males 79,6 years. Icelandic men can now expect to live longer than men in any other country. Mean life expectancy for Icelandic women is the seventh highest in Europe. Over the last decade, infant mortality in Iceland has been very low compared with other countries. In 2008 infant mortality was 2.5 per 1,000 live births.

Further information can be found on Statistics Iceland website.