Delayed supplies and help from the Swedes
The supply of penicillin in 1944 for the patient who sustained osteomyelitis from a landmine injury appears to have been a one-off event, as other requests for penicillin were declined (17).
During the war, the Norwegian government-in-exile submitted numerous requests to the United Kingdom and the United States for penicillin to treat patients in Norway, but until 1945 these efforts were largely fruitless. Both the British and Americans appeared to need everything they produced for their own military personnel (18).
After repeated negotiations, it was finally decided in November 1944 that Norway would receive a certain quantity of penicillin. The US authorities stipulated that Swedish authorities should take responsibility for its distribution and use in Norway. Alternatively, they were willing for the allocation to be added to the Swedish quota, with Norway footing the bill (19). The requirement for Swedish control would be expected to cease upon Norway's liberation (20).
Swedish authorities agreed to help out, and the Penicillin Council in Stockholm assumed responsibility for distributing penicillin in Norway, in the same way as they were already doing in Sweden (21). The penicillin destined for Norway was designated as 'Swedish property' (22). A total of 250–300 ampoules were allocated for Norway, with the monthly quota to be determined later. The ampoules were shipped on a Swedish Red Cross vessel from Philadelphia on Christmas Day 1944 (23).
There was a good reason why the penicillin was delivered via Sweden: since most of Norway was still occupied, the Allies needed to ensure that the 'miracle drug' did not fall into enemy hands. Norway had received medical supplies via Sweden during the war, thereby avoiding confiscation by the Germans (24). This strategy also proved effective for the delivery of penicillin.
However, the penicillin was slow to arrive. In February 1945, Hans Jacob Ustvedt (1903–82) at the Office of the Chief Medical Officer in Stockholm (Figure 4) (25) wrote that he had expressed to the Americans '[…] our great disappointment that no penicillin earmarked for Norway has yet arrived here.' The Americans, however, considered the delay 'a question of priorities' (26). Norway was a low priority. Particularly towards the end of the war, it was difficult to get the British and Americans to take an interest in Norway, as their focus was primarily on events elsewhere in Europe (12, pp. 54–55).
The Norwegian authorities abroad reacted to the fact that Sweden received penicillin before Norway. The Office of the Chief Medical Officer in Washington noted that it seemed unfair that neutral Sweden should receive the medication 'while Allied countries under occupation received nothing' (27). Although the Swedes obtained penicillin a few months before the Norwegians, they too were affected by delayed deliveries and, like Norway, had to wait for their allocated quotas (26).
It was not until 8 March 1945 that it was finally confirmed that the 300 promised ampoules of penicillin were on their way from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Oslo. An additional 500 ampoules were also promised in the near future (28).
By the time Norway received its first allocated supplies, the Americans had already received, a year earlier, sufficient penicillin for both civilian and military patients (2, p. 60). This must be viewed in the context of Norway being an occupied Allied country, which meant that penicillin was introduced there later and under different conditions than in the United States or the United Kingdom.