Mette Lindholm Eriksen

So, what is the connection between a village on Funen, that does not have anything else to brag about except for its trailers and one of the world’s most famous universities? Well, the connection is really just a young girl, named Mette Lindholm Eriksen. She studies Public Health Science in Esbjerg, grew up in Brenderup, but soon she will be on a plane to USA to continue her study at Harvard University in Boston.

- It’s almost surreal that I am going over there, but I look forward to getting started. That people really know about Public Health Science is one of the things that I look forward to experience, says Mette Lindholm Eriksen.

Global problems 

Harvard University has offered Public Health Science as a part of their programme since 1922. At Southern University of Denmark in Esbjerg, this study is only nine years old. Mette Lindholm Eriksen will stay at Harvard University for about a year, where she will be studying “Global Health”. Global Health is about bringing public health into the spotlight worldwide.

- There are so many global problems to take care of, and so many places that we can do better, says Mette Lindholm Eriksen.

- Have projects in the developing countries for example had the intended effects? Could the resources have been used better? And what can we do to prevent global warming from having a negative impact on public health?
Take malaria for instance. Concurrently with the global warming, malaria mosquitoes have moved further north, so today you can find malaria in the most northern part of Africa. And then you suddenly face the fact that the northern countries also are threatened by these mosquitoes, she explains.

The curve must change

In many ways the distance between Brenderup and Boston is huge, but the distance is not unrealistic if you have the right ambitions- these will bring you a good part of the way. But as we all know, the right ambitions can’t buy you food and flight tickets. That’s why Mette Lindholm Eriksen has put aside 200,000 Danish crowns for her stay in USA. It’s a lot of money, but they are indeed well spent. 

- I consider it as an investment, and I think that the money is well spent, she says. At the end of the day it is not quite bad to have on paper that you have been studying at one of the most prestigious universities that has housed 75 Nobel-prize winners.

Also at Southern University in Esbjerg, where Mette Lindholm Eriksen has been studying for almost 4 years, they are working determinedly to attract attention on the public health issue in Denmark.

- We are focusing on long-term thinking regarding the public health in Denmark, and we wish to change some of the many health plans that we have today. It’s not that I see myself as an upcoming Minister of Health and Prevention, but I do wish that many of the future leadership positions in the health sector will be filled by graduates from Esbjerg,” says Mette Lindholm Eriksen.

She hopes to see a positive change in the health curve in Denmark in the next couple of years. This goes for smoking, overweight, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes etc. And Mette Lindholm Eriksen and her fellow students lead the way by setting a good example. As she puts it “the students are not acting ‘holy’ and they also get drunk, but we probably have a lot more fruit in our fridge compared to other people.”