Barbro Westerholm

Barbro Westerholm
Westerholm in 2021
Member of the Riksdag
In office
2 October 2006 – 26 September 2022
ConstituencyStockholm County
In office
3 October 1988 – 1 October 1999
ConstituencyStockholm County
Chairman of the Swedish Pensioners' Association
In office
1999–2005
Preceded byGunnel Jonäng
Director-General of the National Board of Health and Welfare
In office
1979–1985
Preceded byBror Rexed
Succeeded byMaj-Britt Sandlund
Personal details
Born(1933-06-16)16 June 1933
Stockholm, Sweden
Died13 March 2023(2023-03-13) (aged 89)
Stockholm, Sweden
Political partyLiberals

Barbro Westerholm (16 June 1933 – 13 March 2023) was a Swedish politician of the Liberals. She was member of parliament (Riksdag) from 1988 to 1999 and again from 2006 to 2022.[1][2] She was the chair of the Liberal women in 1988–1997.

From the mid-1960s Westerholm was an early pioneer in the field of pharmacovigilance, also working on the early stages of the WHO Drug Dictionary and the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring.[3] In 1979 as general director of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, she had homosexuality dropped from the list of mental health diseases.[4][5]

Westerholm was a critic of ageism and advocates for the measurement and publicizing of data on the economic value of volunteer work, and in particular the contributions of older people.[6] In 2009 she was awarded the Nordic Public Health Prize for her work in fighting discrimination against the elderly.[7] She was awarded the Illis quorum by the government of Sweden in 2003.[8]

Westerholm died on 13 March 2023, at the age of 89.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ "Ageing in Europe: From North to South". Ageing In Europe. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Meet human rights champion Barbro Westerholm". Ageing Equal. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. ^ Finney DJ (2003). From thalidomide to pharmacovigilance: a personal account. Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs Annual 2003, in vol. 26.
  4. ^ Rydström, J. (2011). Odd couples: a history of gay marriage in Scandinavia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ. Press. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Humanist events for Europride 2008". Humanists International. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  6. ^ Karlsson, Carl-Johan (7 July 2021). "What Sweden's Covid failure tells us about ageism". Knowable Magazine. doi:10.1146/knowable-070621-1. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Barbro Westerholm gaines Nordic Public Health Prize for work to fight discrimination against the elderly | Expertsvar". Nordic School of Public Health NHV (in Swedish). 6 July 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Regeringens belöningsmedaljer och regeringens utmärkelse: Professors namn". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). January 2006. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  9. ^ Barbro Westerholm är död (in Swedish) SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 14 March 2023
  10. ^ "Före detta riksdagsledamoten Barbro Westerholm död". Dagens Nyheter. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
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