A huge hole was left in the world this week with the death of
the Swedish statistician Han Rosling. He was a master communicator
whose captivating presentations on global development were watched by
millions. He had the
ear of those with power and influence. His friend Bill Gates said Hans
‘brought data to life and helped the world see the human progress it
often overlooked’. In a world that often looks at the bad news coming
out of the developing world, Rosling was determined to spread the good
news, extended life expectancy, falling rates of disease and infant
mortality. He was fighting what he called the ‘post-fact era‘ of global
health. He was passionate about global development and before he became
famous he lived and worked in Mozambique, India and the Democratic
Republic of Congo using data and his skills as a doctor to save lives.
Despite ill health he also travelled to Liberia during the Ebola
outbreak in 2014 to help gather and consolidate data to help fight the
outbreak. On a personal level he was warm, funny and kind and will be
greatly missed by a huge number of people.
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