The Directorate of Health
About the Directorate of Health
Our mission
To advance good and safe health care services, health promotion, and effective disease prevention.
Our values
Accountability — Respect — Trust
Our vision
Health and well-being based on health promotion, disease prevention, and accessible and safe health care supported by the best knowledge and experience available at any given time.
Further information
The main functions of the Directorate of Health are guided by the Medical Director of Health and Public Health Act no. 41/2007:
To advise the Minister of Health and other Government bodies, health professionals, and the public on health, disease prevention, and health promotion matters.
To sponsor and organize public health initiatives along with monitoring their effectiveness.
To promote improvements in health care quality.
To supervise the health care services and health care professionals.
To monitor prescription medicines and promote their prudent use by individuals and health care professionals.
To collect and process health and healthcare services data and promote research in that field. This includes maintaining national registers on health, diseases, drug prescriptions, births, deaths, and the work and performance of health services.
To handle complaints from healthcare users.
To issue licenses to practice to health care professionals and ensure that their education meets requirements at all times.
To be responsible for the implementation of infectious-disease control measures, cf. the Act on Health Security and Communicable Diseases,
At the Directorate of Health, the Chief Epidemiologist is responsible for health security and the measures against communicable diseases and other health threats. The functions are guided by the Act on Health Security and Communicable Diseases no. 19/1997:
Organize and coordinate communicable disease control and prevention and immunizations throughout the country, e.g. by publishing guidelines on how epidemics should be handled.
To maintain a register of communicable diseases to monitor their spread by gathering detailed data on their diagnosis from laboratories, hospitals, and physicians.
To keep a register of human use of antimicrobial drugs, which may cause microorganisms to become resistant to antimicrobials
To promulgate information on the spread of communicable diseases within Iceland and abroad to physicians and other health workers regularly and as required.
To provide advice to physicians and others dealing with measures against communicable diseases.
To supervise communicable disease prevention, e.g. by promulgating information and educational material to the public on these matters.
To provide and issue professional guidelines and instructions.
To maintain a registry of all providers of health care.
To publish regular reports on the critical factors regarding the quality of health.
To assess the quality and effectiveness of health care services.
A comprehensive legal framework guides the Directorate of Health and its objectives and functions: