Health petition approaches 60,000

More than 1 in 6 of the entire Icelandic population have put their name to an online petition urging the government to invest more in the country’s health system.

The petition (link in Icelandic) is spearheaded by Head of deCODE genetics Kári Stefánsson and was launched on 22 January. Over 40,000 signatures flooded in over the first few days and the total now stands at over 59,000.

Stefánsson is urging the Icelandic government to invest more in the country’s “starved” health system by raising its spending on health to 11% of national GDP. According to the petition, Iceland currently dedicates 8.7% to health – far below the Nordic average.

Those wishing to sign the online petition must be over eighteen and have a valid Icelandic ID number.

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Article on Iceland Monitor

40,000 sign Icelandic health service petition