New Paper: Norwegian Public Health Legislation in the 1918–20 Influenza Pandemic
PANSOC Affiliated Researcher Vibeke Narverud Nyborg (University of Southeastern Norway) has recently published an Open Access article in the Continuity & Change on the types and uses of public health legislation in Norway during the 1918–20 influenza pandemic.
The article analyzes the types and content of public health legislation that had been established in Norway before the pandemic and how this legal regime worked in practice during the period 1918–20. It shows that there was substantial local heterogeneity in the adoption and duration of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as restrictions on public gatherings, as such measures were determined by local actors such as doctors who served on municipal health boards. As in other contexts, there were debates about the suitability of different measures and concerns regarding their restrictions on individual freedom. The study suggests that the lack of coordinated and extensive NPI adoption may have contributed to higher morbidity and mortality.