The archive for the «Chief Medical Officer for Leprosy»

The Chief Medical Officer for Leprosy was a government office created in 1854. The purpose of the office was to coordinate the authorities’ work relating to leprosy. In 1856, the Chief Medical Officer started registering everyone in Norway who had leprosy, marking the beginning of what later became known as the National Leprosy Registry of Norway.

The archive contains documentation related to the administration of the office, such as journals, copybooks and case files. Some of the material relates to specific districts, some to certain institutions.

A fairly large part of the archive is made up of reports to the Chief Medical Officer from the district medical officers in Norway. They would report annually on how many people were afflicted with leprosy in their district, and this information was entered into large forms.

The National Leprosy Registry of Norway is the name of the systematic overview of leprosy cases in Norway between 1856 and 1957 and is based on reports from district medical officer. The registry also contains an overview of those admitted to the different hospitals.