News of Norway, issue 4, 1998
She is the first woman to become Director-General of WHO. Her five-year term starts on July 21, 1998. Dr. Brundtland was nominated to the position by the 101st Session of the WHO Executive Board in January 1998.
The new Director-General of WHO addressed the Assembly after taking her oath of office.
She immediately affirmed her conviction that societies can be changed and that poverty can be fought. "The challenges go to all of us. WHO can and must change. It must become more effective, more accountable, more transparent and more receptive to a changing world," she said.
Referring to the complex processes of transition that WHO must cope with, the new Director-General said, "The transition from one century to another sees changes which will be faster and more dramatic from an economic, social and health perspective."
The World Health Report 1997 indicates that noncommunicable diseases are responsible for nearly half of total global deaths. They cause about 75 percent of all deaths in industrialized countries and approximately 40 percent of all deaths in developing countries.
It is estimated that by the year 2020 up to three-quarter of all deaths in the world will result from noncommunicable diseases, according to WHO Program on Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.
Commenting on this transition from the communicable diseases to the noncommunicable diseases, Dr. Brundtland said: "They cannot be seen as competing tasks. They are complementary. We need to fight both. The burden of disease is the burden of unfulfilled human development."
As far as priorities are concerned, Dr. Brundtland said: "I wish to organize our programs and activities around key functions that tell a clear story of what business we are in. I wish to concentrate our resources in a way which enables us to do fully what we decide to do-and to let go what we decide not to do-either because others do it better or because we simply can't do all."
In regards to the changes of the organization that she will implement, Dr. Brundtland said that she will focus on four areas of concern: "WHO will help monitor, roll back and where possible eradicate communicable diseases; WHO will help fight and reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases; WHO will help countries build sustainable health systems that can help reach equity targets and render quality services to all, with a particular emphasis on the situation of women and mothers who are so critical for giving children a safe and healthy start in life; WHO will speak out for health, back its case with solid evidence and thereby be a better advocate for health towards a broader audience of decision-makers."
Among Brundtland's top priorities are first to fight Malaria and second to address the field of noncommunicable diseases.
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland concluded her speech by saying: "My motivation will be this: making a difference, being able to make an effort, being one of many dedicated people working together for what we believe in. I envisage a world where solidarity binds the fortunate with those less favored. Where our collective efforts will help roll back all the diseases of the poor. Where our collective efforts assure universal access to compassionate and competent health care. Bringing the world one step closer to that goal is our call for action."
Adapted from WHA, May 13, 1998, press release.
To learn more about WHO, visit www.osce.org
Biographical note
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland was born on April 20, 1939, in Oslo, Norway. She studied medicine at the University of Oslo, from which she obtained her M.D. degree in 1963.
She received the degree of Master of Public Health from Harvard University in 1965. From 1965 to 1967, Dr. Brundtland served as medical officer at the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
From 1968 to 1974, she was Assistant Medical Director at the Oslo Board of Health, Department of School Services.
In 1974, Dr. Brundtland was appointed Minister of Environment, a position she held for five years.
Appointed Prime Minister for the first time in 1981, Dr. Brundtland held this position three times, the latest service from 1990 to October 1996. Altogether she was Head of Government for more than 10 years.
Among her numerous international positions, Dr. Brundtland chaired, starting in 1983, the World Commission on Environment and Development, which coined the concept of "sustainable development" and made recommendations leading to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
Dr. Brundtland is married and is a mother of four, and a grandmother of seven.