30th January 2025

Talnabrunnur - Issue 1 2025

A new issue of Talnabrunnur, a newsletter on Health Information, has been published.

30th January 2025

Respiratory Infections – Week 4, 2025

The Chief Epidemiologist´s dashboard on respiratory infections has been updated with data through Week 4 of 2025 (January 20–26, 2025).

30th January 2025

COVID-19: Five Years On

Just over five years ago, the first cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause were reported in Wuhan, China. This marked the beginning of a pandemic that would profoundly affect global health, economies, and welfare.

23rd January 2025

Use and number of tanning beds in Iceland 2024

The proportion of people who have used tanning beds in the last 12 months in Iceland is now 5%, which is one percentage point lower than in the previous survey conducted in 2022.

23rd January 2025

The Directorate of Health‘s Dietary recommendations are based on the best scientific knowledge

Various misrepresentations have been made in the recent public discussion about dietary recommendations. For this reason, the Directorate of Health considers it important to emphasise that these recommendations consider the needs of healthy individuals and do not include absolute commands or prohibitions of any food item. On the contrary, the main theme of these recommendations is consuming a varied diet while being aware of the potential harmful effects of excessive consumption of red meat, ultra-processed foods, and products containing high amounts of saturated fat and/or added sugars.

23rd January 2025

Respiratory Infections – Week 3, 2025

The Chief Epidemiologist´s dashboard on respiratory infections has been updated with data through Week 3 of 2025 (January 13–19, 2025).

22nd January 2025

A new action plan to reduce the number of suicides in Iceland has been presented to the minister

A working group appointed by the former Minister of Health, Willum Þór Þórsson, has, in recent months, prepared a draft of a new action plan to reduce the number of suicides in Iceland for the years 2025 – 2030. Yesterday, the working group submitted a proposal for a new action plan to the Minister of Health, Alma D. Möller.

22nd January 2025

Guðrún Aspelund temporarily appointed as the Medical Director of Health until 1 March 2025

The temporary appointment of Chief Epidemiologist Gudrún Aspelund to the office of the Medical Director of Health has been extended until 1st March 2025.

16th January 2025

Respiratory Infections – Week 2, 2025

The Chief Epidemiologist´s dashboard on respiratory infections has been updated with data through Week 2 of 2025 (January 6–12, 2025).

15th January 2025

Avian Influenza and Risk to Humans

Influenza viruses that can infect people are primarily of two types: Type A, which causes annual epidemics and can cause pandemics, and type B, which causes regular outbreaks in people, mainly children. Influenza A viruses can infect a wide range of animals, often named after their hosts, such as avian (bird), swine (pig), canine (dog), or equine (horse), influenza viruses.