[Chief medical officers and preventive health care]

A survey conducted among all Norwegian Chief Municipal Medical Officers, provided information about their formal role and involvement in health promotion work. Of the total respondents, 71% regularly attended meetings of the Municipal Board of Health and 32% attended meetings of the Building Council; 80% had authority to forward proposals to the Board of Health on matters of environmental health. On average, the Chief Municipal Medical Officers spent one-fifth of their working time on community health promotion activities. 80% of the respondents would have liked to spend more time on these activities. These officials should have a stronger formal position in the field of health promotion, and they themselves should give higher priority to health promotion work.