40,000 sign Icelandic health service petition
Kári Stefánsson. Photo: Golli
More than one in every ten Icelanders has signed an online petition urging the government to invest more in the country’s “starved” health system.
The petition (link in Icelandic) is the initiative of Head of deCODE genetics Kári Stefánsson. It was opened on Friday and since then over 41,000 signatures have flooded in.
Stefánsson wants the Icelandic government to up its spending on health from 8.7% of national GDP today to 11%.
“Health services are one of the cornerstones of modern society,” reads the petition. “A good health system reflects our natural solidarity, while a poor one shows unacceptable indifference to those who need help.”
“We feel that successive governments over the last 25 years have starved the Icelandic health system, to such an extent that it is no longer able to perform its role as it should.”
