Tuberculosis was the major public health problem throughout the first half of the 20th century. Around 1900, almost 7,000 people died of tuberculosis each year, out of a population of just over 2 million.
The Tuberculosis Act of 1900 imposed a duty on doctors to report all cases of infectious tuberculosis and to supervise the home. The law also allowed for placement in hospitals or tuberculosis homes. Payment for the stay was to be shared between the state, county and municipality.
The law laid the foundation for a comprehensive expansion of hospitals and nursing homes. Tuberculosis appears to be the truly great institution builder within the Norwegian health system. The fight against tuberculosis was also central to the formation and work of the three major voluntary health organizations: the Norwegian Women's Sanitary Association, the National Association Against Tuberculosis and the Red Cross.
These associations came to carry out extensive work on a number of fronts to combat the disease. They conducted lobbying and fundraising (including Maiblomst and TUBFRIM). Information work was carried out through exhibitions, by traveling teachers and nurses through other lecture activities. The organizations initiated preventive measures such as examinations of schoolchildren. And a number of assistance and care services were established: milk distribution, maternity counseling, housewife replacement schemes, aid stations and health stations.
A wide range of small and large homes and hospitals were established; nursing homes, holiday homes, homes for children at risk of tuberculosis, nursing and tuberculosis homes, coastal hospitals, hospitals and sanatoriums. Around 1950, for example, the Norwegian Women's Sanitary Association ran 19 tuberculosis homes and 15 combined nursing and tuberculosis homes. These had a total of almost 1,200 beds. The association also had 270 control stations for mothers and children and 11 homes for children at risk of tuberculosis, nine homes for families at risk of tuberculosis and a number of holiday colony houses.
In total (all public and various private) there were about 135 special institutions for the treatment and care of tuberculosis in 1950. The Oslo municipality's folk sanatorium, Vardåsen in Asker, was the largest with 216 beds. There were six state sanatoriums: Glittre in Hakadal, Landeskogen in Setesdal, Reknes in Molde, Vensmoen in Saltdal, Ringvål in Leinstrand and Luster Sanatorium. Glittre, Vensmoen and Ringvål were the largest with over 150 beds each. The smallest of the tuberculosis institutions was the Red Cross's Bossekop infirmary, Alta, with 10 beds, the Saltdal Health Association's tuberculosis home in Nordland with 9 beds and the Herøy Health Association's tuberculosis home, Møre- og Romsdal, 4 beds. At three coastal hospitals, Stavern, Hagavik and Tromsø, there were a total of 385 beds. In addition, slightly more than 500 beds in other hospitals were reserved for tuberculosis. In total, there were about 5,500 beds for the treatment of tuberculosis in Norway in 1950.
Most tuberculosis patients were adults. However, there were children in many of the sanatoriums and tuberculosis homes. At the coastal hospitals, a relatively large proportion of the patients were children. At Reknes in Molde and Grefsen in Oslo, there were separate children's sanatoriums. In addition, there were three tuberculosis homes reserved for children: Åsebråten children's sanatorium in Østfold and the Trondhjem Medical Association's two tuberculosis homes for children, Nylenne and Kleivan, both in Nord-Trøndelag.
The sanatoriums and homes were being dismantled in the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1950s, the total number of tuberculosis beds was approximately halved. Around 1970, the fight against tuberculosis was over. The activities of the homes and hospitals were reorganized and the category of tuberculosis was removed from public statistics.
