THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Inventor and researcher win the awards

Inventor and researcher win the awards

American Mower, Briton Marmot chosen for contributions to healthcare

TWO FOREIGNERS have won the prestigious Prince Mahidol Awards this year for their outstanding contributions to the world’s healthcare sector. 
Professor Morton M Mower from the United States was honoured in the field of medicine, while Sir Michael Gideon Marmot from Britain bagged the award in the field of public health. 
The two winners were chosen from among 51 candidates from 19 nations. 
“The winners of the Prince Mahidol Awards have made significant contributions to the well-being of the people,” Professor Vicharn Panich said yesterday in his capacity as chairman of the International Award Committee of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation.
Mower is the co-inventor of the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (AICD) and the main inventor of the Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy (CRT) device. 
The AICD is a device implanted inside the human body, which is capable of performing cardioversion, defibrillation and pacing of the heart, without the need of an external defibrillator. 
It constantly monitors the rate and rhythm of the heart and can deliver electrical current when the heart rate is abnormal. After the concept of AICD began in 1969, the first implantation in a patient was done in 1980. 
The device is credited with dramatically reducing the death rate of patients with cardiac arrhythmia.
Several million people around the world are currently using it.
“About 2,000 patients in Thailand are implanted with the device each year under the country’s three major healthcare schemes,” Vicharn said. 
The AICD device not only saves lives, but also helps improve the quality of life for survivors. 
Marmot, meanwhile, has been a pioneer in the field of social epidemiology for more than 35 years. His research focuses on the effects of ethnicity, lifestyle, socio-economic status, inequalities and the environment on the health, life expectancy and risks for diseases both within and between countries globally. 
He is most recognised for his evidence-based evaluation on the Social Determi-nants of Health (SDH), for instance, the conditions affecting health, disease prevention and long-term capability development of people from birth through old age, which covers socio-economic levels, schooling, employment, standards of living and access to healthy environments. 
Recognising the importance of SDH, the World Health Organisation has adopted it |for public policy planning, and appointed the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in March 2005, which Sir Marmot has chaired since its inception. 
His contribution has changed the practices in the formation of health policies, thus saving |hundreds of millions by reducing health inequity around the |world.
Sek Wannamethee, the chairman of the subcommittee on public relations of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, said Marmot and Mower would receive the medals, certificate of honour, and US$100,000 cash as awards at a ceremony to be held in the Grand Palace on January 28 next year.
The foundation’s president, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, will represent His Majesty the King in presenting the awards to the two laureates.
 
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