On the surface, the Prince Mahidol Award may appear like just another accolade given out to recognise medical experts who have done something good for society. In reality, however, the gravitas of the honour is much stronger.
Secretary-general of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation under the Royal Patronage Dr Supat Vanichakarn explained that the award was to praise individuals or institutions that have made exemplary contributions to the advancement of medical and public health not just for their own countries but for mankind.
"The award is also to encourage people to have the drive to work and do something that benefits the well-being of all humans," said Dr Supat.
The Prince Mahidol Award, according to the secretary-general, was first initiated in 1992, the same year the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation was established in commemoration of the centenary of the birthday of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, father of His Majesty the King. Due to Prince Mahidol's works and commitment in the field of health, he has been honoured as the Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand.
Conferred every year on two areas namely medicine and public health, this year the Prince Mahidol Award will be given on Thursday at Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall. This year's winners of the award are professor Morton Mower, co-inventor of the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (AICD), a small device that is placed in the chest to help treat irregular heartbeats; and Sir Michael Gideon Marmot who is recognised for his concept of Social Determinants of Health (SDH).
In the past 24 years, 72 awards have been given to individuals, groups of individuals and institutions around the globe. This year, in particular, there are a total of 51 nominations from 19 countries, all screened by the Scientific Advisory Committee, the International Award of Committee and the Board of Trustees before the final decision was made as to who would be awarded.
Winning criteria is known among the committee as the "D, B and L principle". Simply put, those who are qualified to be considered award-winners must show the scientific importance of their discovery or the wide impact of their discovery and how it affects people on a large scale. The "length" of their work is also considered and how beneficial it is over quite a length of time.
"It is very important that the discoveries are proven to have significant impacts on mankind for quite a while, not merely a new thing that has just been invented," added member and secretary of the Board of Trustees, the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation ML Anuporn Kashemsant. "Take Dr Dilip Mahalanabis [recipient of the 2006 Prince Mahidol Award], for example. His contribution to work on the application of oral rehydration solutions as a treatment for diarrhoea is a great discovery. It is widely recognised because it can save millions of lives globally."
Almost every year there are nominations from Thailand too, noted Dr Supat. Since its inception, four Thais have been awarded, one of which is Mechai Viravaidya, founder of the Community-Based Family Planning services, who advocates the use of condoms to prevent pregnancy in various countries. Mechai received the award in 2009.
"Of the 72 award recipients, four have also received the Nobel Prize," Dr Supat added.
Apart from the Prince Mahidol Award, the foundation also hosts the Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC), an annual gathering of people and organisations who share the same mission to discuss and position healthcare agendas as well as establish sustainable healthcare systems around the world.
For five years, the foundation has also granted scholarships through its Prince Mahidol Award Youth Programme to give Thai medical students an opportunity to gain more experience from any country of their choice.
ML Anuporn Kashemsant.
"It [the scholarship] opens the door for them to the Western world," commented ML Anuporn.
Dr Supat said that despite the fact that Thailand apparently falls short of infrastructure when it comes to public health development, he still sees room for improvement.
"Many doctors in Thailand are required to shoulder several responsibilities at the same time," he said. "I myself, for example, have to attend to patients, teach and conduct research. And this is different from fellow medical practitioners in Western countries where their job is more focused. I think what our country desperately needs for healthcare development is more opportunity and better facilities. But the healthcare situation in Thailand has been tremendously improved," ML Anuporn asserted.
"Preventive measures have been put in place, even in the country's remote areas. We have a better network of village health volunteers with soldiers and police officers ready to lend a helping hand so that the elderly and children can also access health services. People in big cities might not see this picture but in far-off neighbourhoods, this really is happening."
Dr Supat strongly wishes that the Prince Mahidol Award serves as a catalyst to make medical professionals more selfless and enthusiastic to develop something to improve the quality of life of other people around the world.
"The award reminds us of Prince of Mahidol who left numerous words of wisdom for all Thais," he concluded. "One thing he always emphasised was for people to put the benefit of the public as the first priority, and their own as the second. If we follow his teachings, Thailand will certainly have doctors with the true spirit of giving and saving other people's lives."
