Brostrøm has previously been a member (from 2017), Vice-chair (from 2018), and Chair (from 2019), of the Standing Committee of the European Regional Committee (SCRC),[3] as well as (ex officio) Deputy Executive president of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (69th session; 2019–2020).[4] He held these posts during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as chairperson he led the committee's crisis management and response.[5][6][4]
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Brostrøm became a prominent public figure in Denmark,[8] where he played a key role in the Danish response to COVID-19, which has been described as "one of the most successful in Europe."[9][10][11][12] In Denmark, he became widely known as the "coronageneral",[8][13][14][15][16] and was especially praised for his "directness and clarity with which he speaks" and his reliance on facts and logic.[17][18]
Early life and education
Søren Brostrøm was born in Aarhus in 1965, the second son of two medical doctors; his mother a paediatrician and his father a cancer researcher. He grew up in Risskov and Farsø. His father died in an accident when Brostrøm was 11 years old, and the family moved to Mobile, Alabama, where Brostrøm experienced different social conditions.[14] Brostrom said in a 2020-interview that "the tragedy has left an everlasting mark on me" and that life after his father's death was burdened by "both grief and a tough financial situation".[19]
From an early age, he was interested in biology and mathematics. Brostrøm has said in connection with his profession and education that "although my parents were doctors, it was my own choice, but I was probably also very influenced by them."[21]
The responsibilities also included health preparedness and infectious diseases, which is where the Authority's pandemic preparedness lies. During the COVID-19 pandemic ten years later, Brostrøm would come to rely on the experience and knowledge he gained as department head.[14]
Director-General
In October 2015, Brostrøm was appointed Director general of the Danish Health Authority, which was immediately afterwards heavily reshaped by a comprehensive organizational change, where major areas such as patient safety, approval of medicines and handling of health data were placed in independent authorities.[32][33] The Danish Health Authority remained the overall authority.
One of his first major tasks was to complete the update of the specialty plan, which dictates which hospitals can perform complicated treatments and which cannot. It came into force in June 2017 after extensive committee work and many critical debates in medical circles.[29]
Public attention
Brostrøm came to public attention when the Danish Health Authority's HPVvaccination programme in 2014–15 experienced a sudden and large drop in uptake among the target group, girls and young women, who feared serious side effects. Brostrøm took responsibility for inadequate communication and did so in an open and personal manner, which has also been characteristic of his appearance at numerous press conferences and interviews in connection with the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]
Personal life and interests
Brostrøm is interested in art, theatre and the opera.[34] Brostrøm is openly homosexual.[35]
HIV/AIDS impact on Brostrøm
Brostrom spoke in an interview in 2020 about how the HIV and AIDS global epidemic affected his youth: "HIV and AIDS is the disease I myself grew up with. Both as a young gay man and as a young medical student."[35] Brostrøm described how the disease came as a shock and put a damper on the free and uninhibited sexuality that had taken hold in the gay community throughout the 1960s and 70s.[35] Brostrøm said, "In 1992 I was in the US as part of (medical) school, and from that period I remember it very clearly. There was a lot of debate and the disease was shrouded in taboo. There were religious and conservative groups who called HIV and AIDS God's punishment on homosexuals. At that time I saw young beautiful men lying dead. People like myself."[35]
Memberships, chairmanships and organizational work
Brostrøm has been chairman and board member of a number of organizations. List:[27][34][36]
Danish
Member of the Board of the Danish Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.[37]
^ ab"Søren Brostrøm | Copenhagen 2020". Copenhagen 2020 | International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare site. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
^Nielsen, Birgitte Bruun, ed. (August 2001). "DSOG Medlemsbladet" [Member Journal of the Danish Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.]. DSOG Bladet (22). Danny Svane. Dansk Selskab for Obstetrik og Gynækologi [Danish Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology]: 6. ISSN1601-1627.
^"Bestyrelse" [the Board of Governors]. Helsefonden (in Danish). Retrieved 8 August 2021.
