Barbro Westerholm
Swedish politician (1933–2023)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Barbro Westerholm | |
|---|---|
Westerholm in 2021 | |
| Member of the Riksdag | |
| In office 2 October 2006 – 26 September 2022 | |
| Constituency | Stockholm County |
| In office 3 October 1988 – 1 October 1999 | |
| Constituency | Stockholm County |
| Chairman of the Swedish Pensioners' Association | |
| In office 1999–2005 | |
| Preceded by | Gunnel Jonäng |
| Director-General of the National Board of Health and Welfare | |
| In office 1979–1985 | |
| Preceded by | Bror Rexed |
| Succeeded by | Maj-Britt Sandlund |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 June 1933 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died | 13 March 2023 (aged 89) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Party | Liberals |
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 advocated 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]
