Two doctors share prize
The winners of this year's Prince Mahidol Award for Medicine come from Britain and Nigeria.
Sir Michael David Rawlins was honored this year for his patient oriented treatment style, while Nigerian physician Uche Veronica Amazigo, a former director of a medical centre for prevention of blindness, won for her work in preventing the loss of sight and eradicating parasite induced blindness at community level.
The winners were announced yesterday by Udom Kachinthorn, dean of Siriraj Hospital’s Department of Medicine, speaking in his capacity as deputy chairman of the Prince Mahidol Foundation. The foundation was set up in 1992 by His Majesty to mark his late father Prince Mahidol’s birth centenary.
The foundation – currently chaired by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn – awards an individual or organization for making a major contribution to humanity via medicine.
Each prize comes with a cash award of US$100,000 (Bt3 million), a certificate and a medal.
Manas Srisodapol, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Information as well as chair of the subcommittee for the foundation’s public relations, said 75 names from 34 countries had been nominated this year. Over the past three years, an international selection committee has been making its recommendations to the Princess, but the final decision lies with her.
The award ceremony will be held in January at the Chakri Mahaprasart Throne Hall.
Vijarn Panich, chairman of the foundation’s award committee, said Dr Rawlins had completed his medical training at the St Thomas Hospital in London and currently chaired the National Institute for Excellence in Medical Science and Health. He is also a leading advocate of employing verifiable data to assess the efficacy of medicine and medical instruments. His view of medicine covers the aspects of the economy, society and ethics, and he advocates health policy that is appropriate, transparent and verifiable.
Vijarn said Rawlin’s work has allowed for high standard yet reasonably priced public health care across the United Kingdom.
Amazigo, meanwhile, studied tropical medicine at Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine in Germany as well public health at Harvard University. It is partly due to her work that parasiteinduced blindness is nearly eradicated in Nigeria and up to 40,000 cases are prevented each year.
