Pharmacopoeia (Felleskatalog)

The national consolidated catalogue of pharmaceutical compounds marketed in Norway, with directions for use is entitled Felleskatalog over farmasøytiske spesialpreparater markedsført i Norge. Its descriptions are based on those approved by the Norwegian Medicines Agency. It is published once a year by Felleskatalog AS, a private sector company and is intended for doctors and other health care professionals. The company also publishes an equivalent catalogue of veterinary medicines. A condensed patient’s version of the pharmacopoeia, with simplified explanations in everyday non-medical Norwegian, is sold by pharmacies and bookshops and may be ordered online. For further details, contact Felleskatalogen AS, Grev Wedels p1. 9, PO Box 204 Sentrum, 0103 Oslo, Tel: 23161550, Fax: 23161551, www.felleskatalogen.no for the main catalogue, www.felleskatalogen.no/pasientutgave for the patient’s edition and www.veterinarkatalogen.no for the veterinary medicines edition, fka@lmi.no.

Physical therapy (Fysioterapi)

Physical therapy, also called physiotherapy in English and other languages, is the treatment of muscular and skeletal illness, injury and deformity by physical methods including manipulation, massage, remedial exercise, heat and electrical stimulation, but not drugs or other medical procedures. It is available throughout the country, in part because it is a basic health service that all municipalities are required to offer to the public. Consequently, Norway has more physical therapists (fysioterapeuter) compared to its population than do most countries. There are some 8,000 in the country, or about eight for every 10 doctors in practice. Another consequence is that Norwegian physical therapy is of high standard; four colleges in the country, at Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim and Tromsø, educate physical therapists, and foreign physical therapists come to Norway to train from as far as Australia. You need a referral (henvisning) from a doctor for physical therapy treatment.

As is the case for consulting a doctor, physical therapy provided by therapists in public, but not private practice is supported by National Insurance, just as are other medical services. Physical therapy clinics are listed under Fysikalske instituter in the Yellow Pages. The national professional association is the Norwegian Physiotherapists’ Association (Norske Fysioterapeuters Forbund, NFF), which is a member of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT). For further information on physical therapy in Norway, contact NFF, PO Box 2704 St Hanshaugen, 0131 Oslo, Tel: 22933050, Fax: 22565825, www.fysio.no, nff@fysio.no.

Private health care (Private helseforetak)

Private health services are growing and now account for about 14% of the per-capita spending on health care. Most doctors and physiotherapists have private practices, but six in 10 have partial public support from municipalities (kommune) or city sectors (bydeler).

Since the 1890s, diaconal religious orders have operated clinics and hospitals. Later, NGOs opened sanatoriums that became hospitals in the 1970s and 1980s. Starting in the mid-1980s, private sector organisations opened medical centres and hospitals, of which there now are some 140 throughout the country. In most cases, the private medical centres are regarded as a supplement to public health care and consequently have few or no subsidies. Nonetheless, private medical services are offered at reasonable costs, comparable with those elsewhere in Europe. Consequently, public hospitals increasingly purchase the services of private hospitals: in 2004, more than one public-funded operation in 15 was performed in a private hospital. Oslo and environs, the most populous part of the country, have the most private health care facilities:

• Axess has two surgical hospital and polyclinic facilities in Oslo; Lilleakerveien 2E, PO Box 476, 1327 Lysaker, Tel: 22064400, www.axesclinic.no.
• Colosseum Klinikken is the country’s largest private dental clinic as well as a polyclinic specialising in ear, nose and throat surgery; Sørkedalsveien 10C, 0369 Oslo, Tel: 23366700, www.colosseumklinikken.no.
• Lovisenberg Diakonale Sykehus is the counry’s oldest private hospital, owned and operated by two deaconess foundations and financed by the City of Oslo as a supplement to public health services; Lovisenberggt 17, 0440 Oslo, Tel: 23225000, www.lds.no.
• Norsk Idrettsmedisinsk Institutt (NIMI) has two special centres for treatment of athletic and skeleton-muscular injuries; Sognsveien 75D, PO Box 3843 Ullevål Stadion, 0805 Oslo, Tel: 23265656, www.nimi.no.
• Omnia hospital is the country’s largest private facility, with a major hospital and polyclinic and two other centres in the Oslo area, as well as clinics in Bergen, Gardermoen, Kristiansand and Trondheim. Contact the main hospital at Fredrik Stangs gt 11–13, 0264 Oslo, Tel: 03113, www.omniahelse.no.
• Oslo Øyelegesenter is a polyclinic and hospital specialising in ophthalmic treatment and surgery; Sørkedalsvn 10A, 0369 Oslo, Tel: 22931260, www.eyecenter.net.
• Volvat Medical Centre was among the first private facilities in the country, and now has polyclinics in Bergen, Fredrikstad, Hamar and Nøtterøy, in addition to the main medical centre and hospital facility in Oslo; PO Box 5280 Majorstua, 0303 Oslo, Tel: 22957500, Fax: 22694535, www.volvat.no.

There are many other private facilities across the country, of which the larger are in:

• Bergen: Klinikk Bergen, a general hospital and polyclinic that also specialises in dermatology; Østre Nesttunv 16, PO Box 234 Nesttun, 5853 Bergen, Tel: 55118080, www.klinikkbergen.no.
• Feiring: Feiringklinikken, owned and operated by the Norwegian Association for Heart and Lung Patients (LHL), a hospital specialising in treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary illnesses; 2093 Feiring, Tel: 63924400, www.feiringklinikken.no.
• Hakadal: Glittreklinikken, owned and operated by the Norwegian Association for Heart and Lung Patients (LHL), originally a tuberculosis sanatorium and now is a hospital specialising in treatment of pulmonary illnesses; PO Box 104, 1488 Hakadal, Tel: 67058000, www.lhl.no/glittre.
• Fredrikstad: Idrettsklinikken private sykehus, a general services hospital; Laboratoriegt 100, 1632 Gamle Fredrikstad, Tel: 69301770, www.idrettsklinikken.no.
• Gjøvik: Mjøskirurgene, a surgical hospital; Tordenskjoldsgt 13/15, 2821 Gjøvik, Tel: 61145050, www.mjoskirurgene.com.
• Haugesund: Privatsykehuset Haugesund and Haugesund Medisinske Senter, with hospital and polyclinic services; Haraldsgt 139, PO Box 175, 5501 Haugesund, Tel: 52700550, www.privatsykehuset.no.
• Hobøl: Ringvoll Klinikken, with day-patient as well as hospital services, Ringvoll Senter, 1827 Hobøl, Tel: 69924330, www.ringvollklinikken.no.
• Trondheim: Klinikk Stokkan, a surgical clinic specialising in plastic and cosmetic surgery, with a clinic in Tromsø in addition to its main hospital, Fjordgt 68, 7010 Trondheim, Tel: 73873900, www.klinikkstokkan.no; and Trondheim Spesialistlegesenter, a polyclinic and hospital offering general services as well as dental specialisations; Søndreg 10, PO Box 72, 7400 Trondheim, Tel: 73872000, www.spesialistlegesenteret.no.
• Ålesund: Medi 3, with a hospital and a company health clinic; Sundgt 12, 6003 Ålesund, Tel: 70103900, www.medi3.no.

Psychiatric services (Psykiatri)

Psychiatry is one of the public health care services and consequently is covered by National Insurance. Your first point of contact should be your regular GP, who can refer you to the district psychiatric centre. Alternatively, you can make an appointment with a psychiatrist in private practice, who you can find listed by speciality under leger (“doctors”) in the Yellow Pages.

Regional Health Authorities (Regionale helseforetak, RHF)

As shown in the map, the country is divided into five Regional Health Authorities, each responsible for the administration, management and development of health care services within its boundaries as well as providing health care information to the public.

• The Northern Norway Health Authority (Helse Nord RHF) covers Nordland, Troms and Finnmark counties as well as Svalbard; Sjøgata 10, 8038 Bodø, Tel: 75512900, Fax: 75512901, www.helse-nord.no.
• The Central Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Midt-Norge RHF) covers Møre og Romsdal, Sør-Trondelag and Nord-Trondelag counties; PO Box 464, 7501 Stjørdal, Tel: 74839900, Fax: 74839901, www.helse-midt.no.
• The Western Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Vest-Norge RHF) covers Rogaland, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane counties; Luramyrv 71, PO Box 303 Forus, 4066 Stavanger, Tel: 51963800, Fax: 51963801, www.helse-vest.no.
• The Southern Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Sør-Norge RHF) covers Buskerud, Vestfoold, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties and is also responsible for the two national hospitals, Rikshospitalet and the National Cancer Hospital; Leinvollen 21A, PO Box 2825 Kjørbekk, 3702 Skien, Tel: 35912600, Fax: 35912601, www.helse-sor.no.
• The Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Øst-Norge RHF) covers Oppland, Hedemark, Østfold, Oslo and Akershus counties; Grønnegt 52, PO Box 404, 2303 Hamar, Tel: 62585500, Fax: 62585501, www.helse-ost.no.

Regular GP (Fastlege)

All residents of the country are entitled to the services of a regular GP, who is a general practitioner providing public services in a municipality. Once you are enrolled in National Insurance, you will be offered the services of a nearby regular GP, but you are free to choose your own regular GP in your municipality or elsewhere. You are entitled to change regular GP up to twice a year, provided the change is to a GP who can accept new patients. Parents choose regular GPs for their children until they are 16 years old, but thereafter, the children may choose their own regular GP.

Respite care (Avlastningstiltak)

A person or a family with a greater than normal burden of caring for a handicapped child or other person needing nursing (pleietrengende) can request relief from the municipality. There are three forms of relief: respite in the home (avlastning i hjemmet) by a professional helper, respite away from home (avlastning borte fra hjemmet) by temporarily sending a child to a respite home (avlastningshjem) and holiday respite (ferieavlastning) by having a professional helper live in the home with a child while the parent(s) go on holiday. For further information, call the municipal office listed under avlastningshjem, avlastningsetat or helse og sosialetat in the Pink Pages.

Rikshospitalet

Rikshospitalet, which has retained its Norwegian name in English, is a national hospital that works closely with the University of Oslo to conduct research and provide specialised health care services. Each year, some 28,000 patients are admitted, 17,000 are given one-day treatment, and there are 130,000 outpatient consultations. The hospital is completely new and is located just north of the Ring 3 motorway in Oslo; Sognsvannsveien 20, Rikshospitalet, 0027 Oslo, Tel: 23070000, www.rikshospitalet.no.

Schengen certificate (Schengen-attest)

If you travel to or from Norway and take a prescription medicine that may be classified as a narcotic, as are many hypnotics, sedatives and painkillers, you must be able to prove that the medicine is necessary for your own personal use, so it’s best to keep the medicine in its original package that carries the prescription label of the pharmacy where you bought it. If your travel is to or from countries outside EU/EFTA (Chapter 20) you may carry a supply of a drug sufficient for up to three weeks use, depending on its type. If you travel to or from countries inside EU/EFTA, you will need a Schengen certificate, the full name of which is “certification to carry drugs and/or psychotropic substances for treatment purposes – Schengen Implementing Convention Article 75”. In Norway, as well as in most EU/EFTA countries, pharmacies issue the certificates. If you wish to know if a specific medicine is classified as a narcotic, ask at a pharmacy or the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

Sex information and advice services (Seksuell opplysning)

The Sex Information Clinic (Klinikk for seksuell opplysning) in Oslo has a staff of doctors, nurses and psychologists who provide guidance on matters of sex life, birth control and abortion, Hammerfestgate 1, PO Box 6699 Rodeløkka, 0565 Oslo, Tel: 23228060 (weekdays 9 am – 3 pm), ksexo@online.no, www.seksuellopplysning.no.

The Centre for Young People’s Health, Cohabitation and Sexuality (Senteret for ungdomshelse, samliv og seksualitet, SUSS) has a staff of medical professionals that offers advice and education and cooperates internationally with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), www.suss.no. Contact SUSS by calling its freephone number 80033866. SUSS also operates the Sex Health Helpline (Telefonen for seksuell helse), a countrywide service manned by doctors from Monday through Thursday, 8 to 10 pm, to provide advice on birth control, pregnancy and abortion Tel: 81002244 (local rate throughout the country).

Amathea is a non-sectarian private organisation that provides free advice and counselling to women and men on all aspects of sex, including pregnancy tests (graviditetstest), counselling on choice of whether or not to have an abortion (rådgivning/valgsamtale), follow-up counselling (oppfølgingssamtaler), couple conferences (parsamtaler), information on rights and finances (informasjon om rettigheter og økonomi), antenatal and postnatal groups (gruppetilbud før og etter fødsel), counselling after abortion (samtale etter abort) and practical assistance (pratisk hjelp). You can contact AAN at the nearest of its 19 offices throughout the country, listed under viktig telefonnummer in the general information in front of the Pink Pages of the telephone directory, or at its head office, Dronningensgate 8b, 0152 Oslo, Tel: 22478010, Fax: 22478020, post@amathea.no, www.aan.no.

Sex reassignment (Kjønnsskift)

Sex reassignment, popularly called “sex change”, is one of the treatments offered for gender identity disorders. It entails triple therapy (trippel behandling) that comprises psychiatric evaluation, hormone treatment and surgery and is performed only at the GID Clinic at Rikshospitalet, Oslo.

Telemedicine Centre (Senter for telemedicine)

Telemedicine services can contribute to providing specialist services locally, such as directly in the home, which speeds treatment. The Telemedicine Centre at the University Hospital of Northern Norway at Tromsø is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Telemedicine and consequently provides both services and conducts research, Sykehusvn 23, 9038 Tromsø, Tel: 77754000, www.telemed.no, info@telemed.no.

Thermometers (Termometre)

The digital fever thermometer (digitale termometre) is now the most common type for home and clinical use. Most are powered by a small battery and have a digital display with readout in 0.1°C increments. They are designed for oral, rectal or under-arm use, and emit a beeping sound when a peak temperature is reached. Old-fashioned mercury thermometers (kvikksølvtermometre) are banned, due to the high toxicity of mercury. If you have an old mercury thermometer, you should turn it in at any pharmacy that will in turn send it on to a toxic waste destruction and recycling facility.

Urine samples (Urinprøver)

Urine samples are used in medical diagnoses. If you are asked for a sample at a health clinic or other health care facility, you will be given a container to use. But you may be asked to bring a sample from home. If so, you may use a well-cleaned glass container. The type of container is unimportant. And a wide variety are used, as Dr Arvid Vatle, a general practitioner at Stord in the western part of the country, found after a year-long cataloguing of the containers used by patients bringing in samples. Writing in the 20 March 1999 issue of the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association (Tidsskrift for Den norske lœgeforening), he reported that from May 1997 to May 1998, a total of 164 urine samples were delivered, in an amazing 110 different kinds of containers. Most popular was a small glass jar that originally contained the Stavland brand of tomato paste (tomatpuré). Other containers included whisky bottles and soft-drink bottles. Apparently, Dr Vatle theorised, people use what they have on hand. He found that the choice of container had no effect on the urine analysis tests conducted, as all were properly cleaned.

Vaccinations (Vaksinasjon)

All children are offered vaccinations against nine diseases: diphtheria (difteri), tetanus (stivkrampe), whooping cough (kikhoste), haemophilius influenza type B (Hib), poliomyelitis (poliomyelitt), measles (meslinger), mumps (kusma), rubella (røde hunder) and tuberculosis (tuberkulose). Vaccination is voluntary, free of charge for children up to the age of 16 and is dispensed in the form of an injection at your local health clinic or by a nurse at your local school. The vaccination programme for children is:

Contact your local health clinic for further information. If you travel abroad, be sure to request a small folder called the International Certificate of Vaccination, if you do not already have one. Keep it up to date with any vaccinations you receive and carry it with your passport when you travel. For further information, see the World Health Organization’s International Travel and Health website at www.who.int/ith.

Voluntary euthanasia (Selvbestemt dødshjelp)

Though once a taboo subject, the moral principles and legal status of euthanasia are now being debated. Recently, there have been court cases involving doctors and other health care professionals who had helped suffering patients end their lives, and in a 1999 survey of University of Oslo medical students, more than one in three favoured euthanasia. For further information, contact the Right to Die Society of Norway (Landsforeningen Mitt Livstestament – Retten til en verdig død), Ullem Allé 2, 0381 Oslo, Tel: 22730480, Fax: 22830481, www.livstestament.org.

World Health Organization, WHO (Verdens helseorganisasjon)

The WHO is a specialised agency within the United Nations that is dedicated to promoting the health of peoples of all countries. It is principally concerned with the control of epidemic disease, vaccination, water supplies and worldwide sanitation, though it is increasingly involved in combating health hazards, such as narcotics and tobacco. Norway has close ties with the WHO: it joined in 1947, and Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norway’s first woman prime minister (1981) served for five years (1998–2003) as the WHO Director-General.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe is located in Copenhagen, Scherfigsvej 8, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark, Tel: +45 39171717, Fax: +45 39171818, www.who.int, postmaster@euro.who.int. WHO affairs in Norway are conducted principally by the Directorate of Health and Social Affairs.