Torbjørn Mork (17 November 1928 – 16 October 1992) was a Norwegian physician and civil servant. He was born in

Odda Odda () is a list of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hordaland counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality i ...

as a son of Guttorm Mork (1897–1974) and Inga Skadsem (1894–1950). He took the

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1948 and graduated with the cand.med. degree from the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...

in 1954. After working as a physician in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Herdla Herdla is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed a large group of about 2,000 islands and skerries covering about of land are ...

and Haukeland, he got a

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

scholarship to study at the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public hea ...

. In 1960 he took the PhD degree there with the thesis ''A Comparative Study of Respiratory Diseases in England, Wales and Norway''. In 1960 he was hired in the Cancer Registry of Norway. He was promoted to assisting chief physician in 1966. He left the Cancer Registry in 1971 to become State Secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs. He represented the Labour Party, and had been a municipal councilman in

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

from 1968 to 1975. Reportedly, he was appointed because the Minister of Social Affairs,

Odd Højdahl Odd Højdahl (5 January 1921 – 23 February 1994) was a Norway, Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party. He was born in Oslo. In 1971–1972 he was the Minister of Social Affairs (Norway), Mi ...

, had his strengths in general administration, and was lacking in knowledge about social policy. Mork was only State Secretary until 1972, as the first cabinet Bratteli fell. In 1972, however, he was appointed as director of the Norwegian Directorate for Health, succeeding the legendary Karl Evang. Evang himself had made a halfhearted attempt to promote Jon Bjørnsson as successor. Besides Mork, the only likely candidate was Gudmund Harlem. Norway went through many reforms during his time as health director. Among others,

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

was legalized in 1978. Mork also worked on an international level in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. He was a member of the executive board of the World Health Organization from 1979 to 1982, from 1980 to 1981 as deputy chair. He was also active in NAVF. He was married to librarian Anna Brit Schjøtt from 1955 to 1978, and was after that a cohabitant with Wenche Margrethe Myhre. He remained health director until his death in October 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mork, Torbjoern 1928 births 1992 deaths Norwegian oncologists Directors of government agencies of Norway University of Bergen alumni Alumni of the University of London Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian state secretaries Asker politicians People from Odda