In a moving ceremony at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in Geneva, honors were presented to a group of people from around the world for their outstanding contributions to public health.

Opening the awards ceremony, the D^r Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said: “The 2022 Public Health Awards and Honors recognize individuals and institutions around the world who have successfully addressed a wide range of health challenges. health. It is an honor for us to come together to recognize these true health champions. I thank the foundations and institutions that so generously support these awards. »

Many of these awards have been created by or in memory of eminent personalities in the field of health.

The call for nominations for each of the awards is launched each year after the close of the World Health Assembly. The Geneva (Switzerland) nominees can be nominated by national health administrations of a WHO Member State and by past winners of the awards. The 2022 Laureates were selected at the Hundred and Fiftieth Session of the Executive Board, in January 2022, based on recommendations made by the Selection Panel for each of the Awards.

2022 Award Winners

Ihsan Doğramaci Foundation Prize for Family Health

Winner: Professor Mehmet Haberal (Turkey)

A pioneer in the fields of general surgery, transplantation and burn treatment, Prof. Haberal has helped establish a legal framework for organ transplantation in Turkey, while making it more socially acceptable through a holistic approach to family and community health and working with families of terminally ill patients and with religious leaders. Under his leadership and thanks to his collaboration with national, regional and global institutions, many organ transplantation centers have been established in Turkey and many health professionals interested in this issue have been trained.

Sasakawa Prize for Health

Winner: D.^r Paisan Ruamviboonsuk (Thailand)

An ophthalmologist specializing in retinal eye care, Dr.^r Ruamviboonsuk has worked for the past 25 years to fight the second leading cause of blindness in Thailand: diabetic retinopathy. He invented and started using a special screening method, then spearheaded an initiative to teach non-ophthalmic staff how to use it and be able to correctly detect retinopathies anywhere in Thailand, even in the most remote areas. Thanks to his work, screening for diabetic retinopathy is now a national program run by the Ministry of Public Health, free for everyone.

United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Award

Winner: Nicaraguan Malaria Control Network

The National Malaria Control Unit of the Ministry of Citizen Power for Health of Nicaragua and the Community Network of Collaborating Volunteers (ColVol) have played a key role in the implementation of the National Malaria Control Program for more than 50 years. year. ColVol is a community of local health workers who focus on the surveillance, diagnosis and treatment of malaria in the municipality of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and who lead the way in community mobilization by providing services to remote and ethnically diverse communities. Malaria disease burden has decreased significantly in the communities served.

His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for research in the fields of health care for the elderly and health promotion

Winner: D.^D Hanadi Khamis Mubarak Al Hamad, Qatar

National Lead for Healthy Aging in Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health and senior clinical lead for Geriatrics, Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation Services, Dr.^D Hanadi Al Hamad has spearheaded innovative programs such as online geriatric centers for the elderly and an urgent day care unit in Qatar. Thanks to his remarkable work, the number of beds for long-term care has increased by 20%; mobile services and home care services are now fully integrated; a web page now presents various information on healthy aging to older people; and community rehabilitation and memory maintenance services have expanded at the primary care level.

Dr. LEE Jong-wook Award for Public Health

Winners: Professor Prakit Vathesatogkit (Thailand) and Severe Hypothermia Treatment Center (Poland)

Professor Prakit Vathesatogkit (Thailand)

Executive Secretary of the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Foundation since 1986 and a member of the National Tobacco Control Committee at the Thai Ministry of Public Health, Prof. Vathesatogkit has dedicated his professional life to tobacco control, with results not not only improved treatment and care protocols for patients, but also an impressive array of tobacco control measures, including tobacco taxes and restrictions on tobacco advertising and sports sponsorship. Professor Vathesatogkit has played a pioneering role in promoting these measures and works in all sectors, involving the general public in the action taken and setting up autonomous networks.

Severe Hypothermia Treatment Center (Poland)

The Polish Center for the Treatment of Severe Hypothermia was the first institution in the country to specialize in the treatment of hypothermia patients and one of the first medical centers in the world dedicated to the treatment of accidental hypothermia. The Center was created by the D^r Tomasz Darocha, expert in the field of extracorporeal therapy, and Dr.^r Sylweriusz Kosiński, specialist in anesthesiology and intensive care. The Center has undertaken numerous research and development projects to design modern technological solutions used in the diagnosis and treatment of hypothermia. He has done pioneering work in training first responders for mountain rescue teams to save lives.

The large group of doctors and experts working at the Center combines medical work and research with social action, taking into account the problem of “urban hypothermia” and the social dimension of accidental hypothermia. They work in particular to raise awareness among people at risk of hypothermia, for example people experiencing homelessness or poverty.

Nelson Mandela Prize for Health Promotion

Winner: D.^r Wu Zunyou (China)

Chief Epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr.^r Zunyou Wu is recognized for his achievements in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, such as the innovative and evidence-based policies he has developed to reach the groups most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. He was a pioneer in the design, testing and large-scale implementation of awareness programs among sex workers and created the nation’s first needle exchange program and the first major substitution of opiates. These measures have had a considerable impact: today, drug users account for 1% of all HIV infections in China, while in 2004, they accounted for half.

Thanks to the work of D.^r Wu said HIV testing is now a crucial prevention tool for all vulnerable groups, and an estimated 300 million tests were performed in China in 2020. Dr.^r Wu on outreach to vulnerable groups have been adopted and are now the subject of a national policy.