Finland does the best in Europe, and has got the shallowest gradient. The OECD uses an economic and social classification, which reveals the social gradient in performance on these standard tests. But they have fallen a bit behind, which I never fail to point out when I go to Sweden, but Finland always does the best.
The best in Europe is always Finland, with Sweden falling a bit behind, which might be related to their free school experiment, maybe not. The OECD compares performance, in different countries, on maths, science and literacy – at 15. Moving beyond early childhood to young people in school, we can look at PISA scores, the Programme for International Student Assessment. As I say, when I show those figures in the USA – I like to come to the USA – it is the only big country that makes my own country look halfway decent. In report card 13, we (the UK) had moved from rank 22 to rank 16, and the USA was still 22.
And on report card 11, the UK and the USA were bumping along the bottom of UN countries. If you look at the UNICEF data on inequalities in early child development, based on four indicators, social, economic, education and health, the UNICEF produces report cards. I talked about early child development this morning in my lecture. It is – and I think I have a ready explanation.
Syme said, ‘You see? It really went full circle they couldn’t wait to get rid of him but finally they brought him back and gave him an honorary doctorate.’ I thought: ‘Wow – I’m getting off the ladder, that’s great!’ I thought it would be churlish to mention this exchange when I went back to Sydney for the honorary doctorate, 36 years later, but someone had found it in an interview and recalled it. Before I left Sydney, someone said to me of my plans to go to Berkeley: ‘Big mistake once you get off the ladder (of clinical medicine), it is very difficult to get back on.’ He had meant to dissuade me but it was the biggest encouragement. Can you take him off our hands? Can we get rid of him?’ Len Syme said, ‘Yes, send him to Berkeley!’ So I went to Berkeley. He won’t stop asking questions he’s just driving us crazy, we can’t deal with him. And a man named Peter Harvey, who was a consultant in chest medicine, came up to him and said: ‘We’ve got this young man who is driving us all crazy. And the story Leonard Syme tells – he was my supervisor when I did my PhD in epidemiology at Berkeley – and he said that he was at a meeting in New Zealand, and that part is true. I was born in North London, we moved to Australia when I was young, and I went to Sydney Boys High School, and the University of Sydney (graduated 1968). Well, Leonard Syme, who was my supervisor in Berkeley, he tells a story about this, which is partly accurate. I think there is actually an earlier book called Mind the Gap. And of course it is about ‘mind the gap’. The bound one is rather expensive, but it is also in paperback. And of course the book, which is very readable. I have noticed on a web page that you were named one of the ‘public health heroes’, with – I guess – Geoffrey Rose, and all these people we know. And particularly within public health, of course. But there are lots of things I should like to question Michael about, questions around your work, and related to why you do what you are doing.So maybe we should just start by – having ‘another Marmot Review’? As you noticed today, I was announcing you as probably the world’s most famous medical doctor at present. It is a very well written book, and we will come back to that. First of all, Michael has to sign his book, because you promised me that one year ago… (Michael signs SW’s copy of The Health Gap.) 1 Every half year, these events take place. And it is also for all the other PhDs at the university. At 12 o’clock, there will be trumpets and lots of things. Now, as you can see here, we are four people who suggested Michael to be an honorary doctor at NTNU, and the events will take place later today. We decided to have this meeting afterwards, since you are here, and since there are so many people here who know your work, and would like to have an opportunity to know more about it. You ‘have to sing for your supper’, that’s right.