Ex-DG of DGHS Mohammad Abul Faiz wins WHO public health prize

Former Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Mohammad Abul Faiz has been awarded the Dr LEE Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The award was announced at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Wednesday, recognising his lifelong contribution to tackling diseases affecting rural, poor and marginalised populations in Bangladesh.

The prizes were presented by Assembly President Dr Víctor Elias Atallah Lajam of the Dominican Republic, together with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and representatives of the foundations that have supported the awards for more than four decades. 

Alongside Prof Faiz, the Banconi Community Health Association (ASACOBA) of Mali received the Sasakawa Health Prize for its pioneering role in community-based primary health care. Thailand’s Dr Worawit Tontiwattanasap was awarded the United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize for expanding access to services for rural, stateless and cross-border populations. The State of Kuwait Health Promotion Foundation’s Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for Healthy Ageing went to Professor Bruno Vellas of France for innovative approaches to elderly care, and to SingHealth of Singapore for integrated, community-centred strategies supporting healthy ageing. Egypt’s Dr Amr Mohamed Kandeel received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion for his leadership in building a prevention-oriented public health system that integrates disease control, digital innovation and equity.

The WHO Executive Board selected the winners in February, with this year’s awards marking 20 years since the passing of Dr Lee, WHO’s sixth Director-General.