{"id":3055,"date":"2019-08-06T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T10:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ki.se\/rektor\/?p=3055"},"modified":"2019-08-06T12:00:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T10:00:09","slug":"commemorating-hans-rosling-is-the-worlds-health-improving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ki.se\/rektor\/2019\/08\/06\/commemorating-hans-rosling-is-the-worlds-health-improving\/","title":{"rendered":"Commemorating Hans Rosling: Is the world\u2019s health improving?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Summary in Swedish below<\/h5>\n

On August 16 we will commemorate Hans Rosling by arranging a seminar and debate in the Jacob Berzelius auditorium at the Karolinska Institutet. You are invited to join in a discussion addressing one of the most salient questions of the day: Is the world\u2019s health improving? <\/em>You can find the program and registration on KI\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n

As most readers of this blog will know, Hans Rosling responded to this question with a resounding yes<\/em>. With his dynamic bubble diagrams, he took us all on a travel through the past to make a convincing case for upward trends and a bright tomorrow. In his book Factfulness, <\/em>published posthumously, he writes that \u201cThough the world faces huge challenges we have made tremendous progress\u201d. <\/em>In exposing such a positive world view he has been seen as sharing the stage with Steven Pinker who in his Enlightenment Now<\/em> states that \u201cnone of us are as happy as we ought to be, given how amazing our world has become\u201d.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, Rosling\u2019s works and views have been met with criticism. Roland Paulsen, for one, argues that we should better not listen to \u201cself-serving optimists like Hans Rosling and Steven Pinker\u201d.<\/em><\/a> According to Paulsen, \u201cRosling only acknowledges those truths that are convenient to his optimistic theory of progress.\u201d Others have entered the debate and forcefully refuted this critique<\/a> (in Swedish).<\/p>\n

It would be to do Hans Rosling and his proud legacy a disservice if we should shy away from an open and critical debate on his works and views. As a university we should welcome such a debate and provide a forum for it, as we will be doing on August 16. I believe it would be in the spirit of Hans that we scrutinize his works with the same \u201cfactfulness\u201d that he himself applied to his analysis of the world\u2019s development \u2013 not least because the question at hand is of fundamental importance for policies, education and research alike. If health is on a steady upward course, why bother to change current policies? If there is an extant or impending health crisis, as others would say, we must think anew, invest more, and look for governance dysfunctions that are in need of repair.\u00a0 Obviously, it\u2019s not a matter of black or white. We will all benefit by a nuanced debate on the status of the world\u2019s health and future scenarios.<\/p>\n

My wish is that the upcoming seminar will bring to the fore the complexity of the question at hand \u2013 how the issue whether health improves or not depends on the metrics used, the data employed, and \u2013 not least \u2013 the time scale applied. Also, we need to discuss to what extent past trends can be projected into the future. One example: the increase in life expectancy \u2013 rightfully hailed as a prime indicator of progress \u2013 is now about to flatten out or reverse in countries like the UK and USA. This issue was very much in evidence at our conference on the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>, held at Karolinska Institutet in March this year. In other fields recent progress is impressive and unquestionable. According to the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation<\/a> global under-five mortality has been cut by more than half since 1990.<\/p>\n

On a personal note: Hans was the one who brought me \u2013 a basic scientist – into the realm of global health and who directed my attention to the stark and unacceptable health inequities in present day society. His work and thoughts provided much of the foundation of The Lancet-UiO commission on Global Governance for Health<\/a>. This commission \u2013 which I led \u2013 was tasked to identify the political determinants of health and to come up with suggestions for changes.<\/p>\n

The subtitle of Hans Rosling\u2019s memoirs<\/a> (link to Swedish title and summary): How I got to understand the world (Hur jag l\u00e4rde mig f\u00f6rst\u00e5 v\u00e4rlden)<\/em>. As I wrote in my piece on Hans Rosling in Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift<\/a>: This subtitle could just as well have read: How I taught the world to understand itself. For this is the legacy of Hans Rosling: He provided us all with new and fundamental insights about the world and its development. He did so with facts, and he did so compellingly, passionately, and with an optimism that both encourages and inspires.<\/p>\n