Four Indians nominated for Mann Award for Health and Human Rights

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Four Indian Nationals have been nominated for the prestigious Mann

Award for Global Health and Human Rights.

1. J.V.R. Prasada Rao

Secretary, Department of Health, Government of India. Mr. JVR Prasada Rao's

contribution has made a difference in the way the National AIDS Control program

is executed in India. Instead of remaining as a purely governmental implemented

program, it has become an example of excellent puiblic-private partnership with

strong involvement of the community and people living with HIV/AIDS. From

1997 when he took over as Project Director of the National AIDS Control

Organization, Mr. Rao effectively decentralized implementation of the program to

the State and district levels. This has helped in quick movement of funds and

effective utilization. New Delhi, India

2. Vineeta Gupta

Insaaf (Justice) International: For the last 17 years Dr. Vineeta Gupta has been

totally devoted to the cause of human rights and civil liberties. She has very

effectively combined health and human rights which even today very

few human rights activists are able to do. She has been instrumental in bringing

focus on to the impact of user fee on health services on the marginalized and

poor people in under-developed and developing countries, especially in India.

She has very effectively combined her medical and legal education with her grass

roots activism. She is totally committed to human rights volunteer activism and

working in her country. She is a unique person because she has extensive higher

education (medical and legal degrees), but maintains a commitment and passion

for volunteer grassroots level work with the underprivileged and marginalized.

Punjab, India

3. Sajan K.

National Convener, Global Council of Indian Christians. Dr. is the

National Convenor of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), an

association of the concerned who have been anxious about the trends of

intolerance triggered by religious fundamentalists in Indian society. GCIC was

established to advocate for freedom of faith and continues to lobby the agencies

and people responsible at the local and national levels for upholding and

implementation of the constitutional guarantees and Universal Declaration of

Human Rights. GCIC seeks to voice the concerns and difficulties being faced by

Indians in various nations in practice of their faith. Bangalore, India

4. Birendra K. Soni

Rotary Club of Bombay Hills South. Mr. Birendra is a 23 year old working on his

M.S.W traveling around India on his bike for 180 days to bring HIV/AIDS

awareness to the country. During his travel, he will cover 150 Dhabas ( Road

Side restaurants meant for travellers on highway basically for truckers ) , 65

cities and 18 states, a challenging 25000 KM. He has chosen to travel by bike to

make this a grassroots effort, to reach truckers in rural and urban populations.

He started 21st Dec 03 and will be on Highway till 15th May. He calls his

campaign - Mission Highway To fight against HIV/AIDS. The basic philosophy of

his mission: In spite of many advocacy and awareness programs in India, AIDS is

still increasing, pointing to some kind of gap or lacking in

the approach. Mr. Biendra has undertaken this mission in order to gather

research with a goal of finding out what this lack or gap in approach is. During

this bike ride, Mr. Biendra is only collecting data on this trip, but in the

mean time is spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS to youth, truckers and other high

risk groups. He is trying to create awareness about rights, and the relation of

rights to health and motivating people to support HIV/AIDS infected or affected

people. Mumbai, India

The Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights has been established

to honor this remarkable individual and help to call continued attention to the

vital links between health and human rights. Three leading international health

and human rights organizations - Association François-Xavier Bagnoud, Doctors of

the World, and the Global Health Council - have come together as partners

to support the Mann award. The Award is presented annually to a leading

practitioner in health and human rights. The Award is a substantial financial

award to allow its recipient a measure of freedom to pursue his or her work in

the important area of global health and human rights. The award will be

presented on June 3, 2004 in Washington, D.C., at a special Awards Ceremony

during the Global Health Council's Annual International Conference - Youth and

Health: Generation on the Edge.

Dr. Farmer, Partners in Health is widely believed to be the winner of this

years award. Dr. Farmer is a Medical anthropologist and physician Farmer

has dedicated his life to treating some of the world's poorest populations, in

the process helping to raise the standard of health care in underdeveloped areas

of the world. A founding director of Partners In Health, an international

charity organization that provides direct health care services and undertakes

research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in

poverty, Dr. Farmer and his colleagues have successfully challenged the

policymakers and critics who claim that quality health care is impossible to

deliver in resource-poor areas. Boston, Massachusetts, USA

http://www.globalhealth.org/view_top.php3?id=389