Q&A

Gro Harlem Brundtland

A Few Words from Madam Prime Minister

CREDITED BY Scientific American with masterminding the rapid global response to stem the SARS outbreaks in 2003, former director-general of the World Health Organization Gro Harlem Brundtland has blazed a path for herself in the world. Before serving as Norway’s prime minister — one of the youngest-ever heads of state — she was her country’s minister of the environment, a member of Parliament from Oslo, and leader of Norway’s Labor Party. Brundtland, who returns to Harvard after receiving her master’s in public health in 1965, is a health policy forum fellow at the Kennedy School this semester. In April, she spoke with Update’s Aine Cryts about life in politics.

You’ve been called Scandinavia’s “Hillary Clinton.” Do you agree with that comparison?
From the American perspective, I could be considered Scandinavia’s “Hillary Clinton.” Hillary Clinton has been a successful U.S. senator in her own right for a few years now. But I should point out that while Hillary Clinton was first lady of the United States, I was the prime minister of Norway.

You’ve written a memoir of your life in politics called Madam Prime Minister: A Life in Power and Politics. What did you want to share with readers about your life?
I have actually written three books about my life: two in Norwegian and one in English. My husband helped me put the English version together. The process allowed me to slow down and take a look at the course of my life. When you’ve spent so many years of your life so busy, you don’t have the time to do that. Sitting down to write your memoir puts everything in perspective.

I also wanted to have a chance to tell readers about my life from my perspective. Norwegians for years had been reading about me in the newspapers and had formed their own ideas. I wanted to tell the story of myself in my own words.

You were commended for your response to the SARS outbreak last year. How can the lessons learned from dealing with the epidemic be used to solve other health problems plaguing the world?
What happened in response to the SARS outbreak was we learned — or learned again — the importance of sharing information between countries. Twenty countries were affected by SARS, but no poor country had a huge outbreak and that’s key. If a poor country with an insufficient health care system had had a huge outbreak, then things would have been much more difficult.

The lessons we learned in dealing with the SARS outbreak can help us come up with solutions for malaria and AIDS in the future, especially if the lesson we take [from this experience] is the importance of sharing information between countries.

Have Cambridge and Boston changed much since you were here as a student at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1964 and 1965?
Actually, no. Boston and Cambridge look pretty much the same to me. Of course, there are more buildings, but neither city has really changed that much, in my opinion. Especially when you compare these cities to Shanghai, China. When I was in Shanghai for the first time in 1980, people were racing around on the streets on their bicycles. Now every time I go back, there are more tall buildings there.

Why did you make the leap from doctor to politician?
I had actually been in the public health field for a while, and my focus had been on changing health policies. I didn’t ask to enter government. Instead, I was asked to serve as minister of the environment when I was 35 years old.

Do you think that women in leadership roles are different from their male counterparts?
I think that humanity would be denied the talents of women if women weren’t in leadership positions. But I should say that, while women tend to be better listeners, there are women who aren’t great listeners and men who are great listeners. And some women are great at engaging in conversation, while others are not. My point is that all women don’t bring the same qualities to their roles as leaders. All women aren’t the same and all men aren’t the same.

Do you consider yourself an optimist?
Yes, I do. I think optimism is a requirement for a leader. You have to believe that you can change things. You can’t just sit there and say that something doesn’t work. You have to believe that you can make change happen, and you have to be able to communicate that to others. That’s what leadership is all about.