Karl Evang: a giant in public health

Karl Evang (1902-1981) was one of the leading figures in public health in the post-World War II era. His first contributions were in social epidemiology in the 1920s-30s, and his studies on sexually transmitted diseases, nutrition and health, and occupation and health, were seminal. He was instrumental in framing the constitutions of two key U.N. agencies, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization, and he helped shape the WHO definition of health. Following the war, as Norway's Director General of Health, he helped create one of the preeminent humanitarian democracies and its welfare state. He and his generation of public health workers were so effective because of ties to the dominant labor parties, the need for government intervention as a result of the Great Depression and the Second World War, and the humanistic reaction to the Nazi horrors. At the same time, their excessive emphasis on medical care, and the role of the physician in health policy, resulted in the great medical costs of today. Those who believe in activist government and the goal of equality in health status owe an enormous debt to Evang and his generation.