Former Director-General of World Health
Organization and Former Prime Minister of Norway to Visit UCSD
By
Heather Holliday | October 25, 2004
Few have dedicated more of their career to advancing the
understanding of the inherent
relationship between politics
and public health than
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland.
She has devoted her lifework
to persuading world leaders
to take science seriously
and to put health issues
high on the political
agenda. Brundtland, a
physician and public health
specialist, advanced that
agenda both in her role
as director general of
the World Health Organization
(WHO) and as prime minister
of Norway. Now, this fall,
she is visiting San Diego
and will share her views
on international issues
on Wednesday, October
27, at 7 p.m. in the UCSD
Price Center Theater.
Brundtland, the daughter
of a politically active
physician, became interested
in medicine and politics
at an early age. She became
a doctor and attended
the Harvard School of
Public Health. Then, in
1965, Brundtland returned
to Oslo and the Ministry
of Health, becoming the
director of Health Services
for Oslo's schoolchildren.
Nine years later, Brundtland
accepted a position as
Minister of the Environment.
Then, in 1981, after acquiring
international recognition
in environmental circles
and a political reputation
at home, she was appointed
prime minister - the first
woman and, at the age
of 41, the youngest person
to hold the post in Norway.
Brundtland served three
terms and more than ten
years as prime minister.
During that time, in 1983,
she established and chaired
the World Commission on
Environment and Development,
widely referred to as
the Brundtland Commission.
This commission internationally
advances the idea of sustainable
development - which demands
that we seek ways of living
that enable people to
lead healthy and economically
secure lives without destroying
the environment.
Brundtland was nominated
as director-general of
WHO in 1998. In this role,
many said that she was
responsible for renewing
the organization's credibility
and international standing.
Brundtland herself said
that her accomplishments
included helping to make
drugs more accessible
to poor countries, bringing
polio closer to eradication,
making gains in the control
of tobacco use and developing
a bold new model to deal
with global health threats
like SARS, according to
The New York Times.
Brundtland's visit is
part of the 2004-2005
UCSD Convocation, which
is co-sponsored by the
UCSD Council of Provosts
and The Helen Edison Lecture
Series, which is the result
of a major gift from the
late Helen Edison, a San
Diego philanthropist who
supported numerous local
educational, cultural
and arts efforts. Admission
to the lecture is free
and parking is $3 after
4:30 p.m. A question/answer
session will follow the
program. For more information,
please call (858) 822-0510
or email emunk@ucsd.edu.
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