Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday honoured six leading public health experts and institutions from across the world for their outstanding contributions to primary healthcare, healthy ageing, disease control and health promotion during a special ceremony held at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in Geneva.
The prestigious public health prizes, regarded among the highest recognitions in global public health, were presented by President of the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly Dr Víctor Elias Atallah Lajam along with WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and representatives of international foundations supporting the awards.
The WHO said the 2026 laureates were selected in recognition of their extraordinary efforts to strengthen primary healthcare systems, reduce health inequities and improve access to essential health services for vulnerable populations across the world.
This year’s awards also marked 20 years since the death of former WHO Director General Dr Lee Jong-wook, whose contributions to global health are commemorated through the Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health.
Under the Sasakawa Health Prize, the Banconi Community Health Association (ASACOBA) of Mali was honoured for strengthening community based primary healthcare and expanding locally driven health services for underserved populations.
The United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize was awarded to Thailand’s Dr Worawit Tontiwattanasap for improving healthcare access for rural, stateless and cross border populations through outreach services, healthcare training and policy advocacy.
For advancing innovative and community based approaches to healthy ageing, France’s Prof Bruno Vellas and Singapore’s SingHealth received the State of Kuwait Health Promotion Foundation Prize for the Promotion of Healthy Ageing.
The Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health was presented to Prof Mohammad Abul Faiz of Bangladesh for his lifelong contributions to public health, particularly for marginalized and rural populations.
Egypt’s Dr Amr Mohamed Kandeel received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion for his leadership in strengthening disease prevention, digital innovation and equitable public health systems.
WHO officials said the awards highlighted growing global recognition of scientific innovation, community outreach and evidence based public health interventions in addressing modern health challenges.
According to WHO, nearly 100 nominations from across all six WHO regions were submitted for the 2026 awards, reflecting increasing global engagement in recognizing excellence in public health.
Public health prizes and awards are presented annually during the World Health Assembly to individuals and institutions making exceptional contributions to global health. The laureates are selected by WHO’s Executive Board on recommendations from specialized selection panels comprising WHO officials and representatives of prize foundations.
Pakistan has also previously received recognition through WHO administered public health awards. Renowned Pakistani pediatrician and global health expert Prof Zulfiqar Bhutta was awarded the WHO Ihsan Doğramacı Family Health Foundation Prize in 2014 for his contributions to maternal, newborn and child health.
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