Thread by @WHO

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Six prizes were presented at #WHA75 to 7 remarkable individuals & health entities institutions from across the globe, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to public health and development.
Find out more about the 2022 awards bit.ly/WHA75Awards

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1530084292784553984

Professor Mehmet Haberal from #Turkey receives this year’s Ihsan Doğramaci Family Health Foundation award, which recognizes an individual or a group for their service in the field of family health #WHA75 bit.ly/WHA75Awards

Since 1975 Prof Haberal is heralded as a pioneer, both in Turkey & world over, in areas of general surgery, transplantation and burn treatment.
He has promoted essential ethical standards & advocated for a clear legal framework for organ transplantation #WHA75

Prof Haberal has tirelessly raised awareness about the importance of organ transplantation & worked towards its social acceptance. He works with families of patients with terminal conditions & also with religious leaders bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Dr Paisan Ruamviboonsuk from #Thailand receives this year’s Sasakawa Health Prize, awarded for outstanding innovative work in health development, including the promotion of health programmes or notable advances in primary health care bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Specializing in retinal eye care, Dr Ruamviboonsuk, an ophthalmologist at Rajavithi Hospital, runs the largest tertiary care hospital under @pr_moph.
Over the past 25 years, he has focused on addressing the second leading cause of blindness in the country – diabetic retinopathy.

Dr Ruamviboonsuk invented & applied a special method to screen for diabetic retinopathy, by grading retinal photographs. He has piloted an initiative to allow trained non-ophthalmological personnel to use this method bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Given the shortage of ophthalmologists & high percentage of retinopathies that go undetected in the early stages, Dr. Ruamviboonsuk’s work is critically important.
Thanks to him, screening for diabetic retinopathy is now free, and a nationwide programme run by @pr_moph #WHA75

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1530165162166059010

Today, diabetic retinopathy is no longer the second leading cause of blindness in #Thailand.
There has been a steep decline in the number of diabetic patients who develop blindness bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

#Nicaragua's Community for Fighting Malaria receives this year’s United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize, which is awarded for an outstanding contribution to health development bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

The National Malaria Component of the Ministry for Citizen’s Power for Health of #Nicaragua, supported by a community network of voluntary collaborators (ColVol), has been implementing Nicaragua’s national programme of malaria control for over 50 years #WHA75

ColVol comprises of local health workers who focus on the surveillance, diagnosis & treatment of malaria in the municipality of Puerto Cabezas, #Nicaragua bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

ColVol also leads in public awareness & community engagement in malaria control, reaching remote & ethnically diverse communities in the municipality of Puerto Cabezas, #Nicaragua, with essential services bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

https://twitter.com/who/status/1530186855563632640

Dr. Hanadi KM Al Hamad receives this year’s Kuwait’s Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for Research in Health Care for the Elderly & in Health Promotion for her remarkable contribution to the field of geriatric care bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Dr. Hanadi KM Al Hamad is #Qatar’s national lead for healthy ageing at the @MOPHQatar & senior clinical leader for geriatric, long-term care & rehabilitation services. She has spearheaded the development of older people virtual clinics & an urgent day-care unit #WHA75

Her work resulted in a 20% increase in bed capacity for elderly long-term care. Integrated mobile & home-care services. A dedicated website for older people with information about healthy ageing. Community & rehabilitation services & memory clinic services #WHA75

This year’s Dr. Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health went to Prof Prakit Vathesatogkit from #Thailand & the Severe Hypothermia Treatment Centre based in #Poland bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Since 1986 Prof Prakit Vathesatogkit has been the Executive Secretary of the Action on Smoking & Health Foundation. He is also a member of the National Committee for the Control of Tobacco Use at the @pr_moph bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Prof Vathesatogkit’s lifelong ambition has been to reduce the prevalence of lung cancer in #Thailand. When he started his career 60% of men smoked and only 1 in 20 lung cancers were diagnosed bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

https://twitter.com/who/status/1530215925701611522

Prof Vathesatogkit's work has not only improved treatment & care protocols for patients but has resulted in many tobacco control measures, including tobacco taxes and restrictions on advertising and sports sponsorships bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

#Poland’s Severe Hypothermia Treatment Centre was the first Polish facility dedicated to treating hypothermic patients & one of the world's first medical centers dedicated to the treatment of accidental hypothermia bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Dr Tomasz Darocha, an expert in the field of extracorporeal therapy & Dr Sylweriusz Kosiński, a specialist in anesthesiology & intensive care, launched the idea to created the Centre & initiated numerous R&D projects in solutions for the diagnosis & treatment of hypothermia

The Centre’s outreach efforts towards first-responder crews have substantially improved the crews’ knowledge & capacity, resulting in improved chances of survival for hypothermic patients. This approach is further strengthened by e-learning courses offered to nurses and doctors.

https://twitter.com/who/status/1530222210891321344

Doctors & experts at the Centre combine their medical & research work with social work, noticing the problem of “urban hypothermia” & the social dimension of accidental hypothermia. This incl. the need for awareness among those at risk of hypothermia, e.g. homeless or poor people

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1530222217883226113

The holistic approach developed by the Centre enriches the understanding of severe hypothermia globally bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1530222210891321344

Dr. Wu Zunyou from #China received this year’s Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Dr. Wu is the Chief Epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention.
He has designed, piloted & scaled up outreach programmes to increase condom use among sex workers and testing for sexually transmitted infections bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

Dr. Wu launched HIV-awareness information campaigns that reached approximately 800,000 female sex workers.
He also established #China’s first needle-exchange programme & its first large-scale opioid replacement treatment for 40,000 and 700,000 drug users, respectively #WHA75

The impact of these measures has been significant. Today, drug users represent 1% of all HIV infections in #China, while in 2004, they represented half bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

https://twitter.com/who/status/1530236482245513216

Dr. Wu has also introduced universal testing and antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected men who have sex with men.
These measures led to a decrease in the number of new HIV infections in 20 cities in #China bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75

https://twitter.com/who/status/1530236472280117250

HIV testing is now a crucial prevention tool among all vulnerable groups. In 2020, 300 million tests were carried out in #China.
Dr. Wu’s recommendations on outreach interventions for vulnerable groups translated into a national policy bit.ly/WHA75Awards #WHA75