Prince Mahidol Awards 2012 | Bangkok Post: learning

About medicine & healthcare

Community medicine to fight worm causing blindness in poor countries & guidelines for cost-effective medicine in UK, winners of this year's prize.

Photo above of the insect that transmits the disease Onchocerciasis, a black fly (Simulium yahense) with parasite (Onchocerca volvulus) emerging from the insect's antenna (Source: Wikipedia).

Click button to listen to Prince Mahidol Awards 2012 download

Local News

Brit, Nigerian win Mahidol awards

22/11/2012
Paritta Wangkiat

Young children leading adults blinded by onchocerciasis in West Africa. In some areas the blindness rate in men over 40 years may be 40% or higher.

A British and a Nigerian have been named the winners of the prestigious Prince Mahidol Award 2012.

Sir Michael David Rawlins, chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), is the winner in the field of medicine.

The winner in the field of public health is Dr Uche Veronica Amazigo, former director of WHO’s African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC).

Sir Michael has been recognised by the Prince Mahidol Award judging committee as a pioneer in providing evidence-based clinical medicine and cost-effective health care guidelines that aim to improve standards of healthcare in the UK.

The guidelines set by Sir Michael have been used by governments outside the UK, including Thailand, to strengthen their capacity for evidence-informed decision making.

Dr Amazigo is remarkable for her outstanding contribution in controlling and eliminating onchocerciasis as a disease of public health importance in Africa. Onchocerciasis, or "river blindness", is a major cause of blindness and skin disease in many African countries.

Dr Amazigo played a crucial role behind APOC’s successful strategy called “community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI)” which relies on active community participation to distribute ivermectin treatment to people who need it.

An award presentation will take place in Bangkok late in January.

Each awardee will receive a US$100,000 (3.1 million baht) prize.

A total of 75 medical personnel from 34 countries were nominated this year.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Local News, Brit, Nigerian win Mahidol awards, 22/11/2012, Paritta Wangkiat, link) 


Mahidol Award Vocabulary

Prince Mahidol Awards - "a Thai Royal Family annual award for outstanding achievements in medicine and public health worldwide" พระราชทานรางวัลสมเด็จเจ้าฟ้ามหิดล (See Wikipedia and website)

prestigious - admired and respected by people ที่มีชื่อเสียง ที่ได้รับความนับถือ
the prestigious Prince Mahidol Award

Sir Michael David Rawlins - a professor of medicine in the UK who is the chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (See Wikipedia)

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - part of the English National Health Service (NHS) publishing "guidelines in three areas. The use of health technologies within the NHS (such as the use of new and existing medicines, treatments and procedures), clinical practice (guidance on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases and conditions), and guidance for public sector workers on health promotion and ill-health avoidance. These appraisals are based primarily on evaluations of efficacy and cost-effectiveness in various circumstances."

"NICE was established in an attempt to defuse the so-called postcode lottery of healthcare in England and Wales, where treatments that were available depended upon the NHS Health Authority area in which the patient happened to live but it has since acquired a high reputation internationally as a role model for the development of clinical guidelines. One aspect of this is the explicit determination of cost-benefit boundaries for certain technologies that it assesses. NICE also plays an important role in pioneering technology assessment in other healthcare systems through NICE International, established in May 2008 to help cultivate links with foreign governments" (See Wikipedia)

clinical medicine - the application of medicine to individual patients with their individual medical needs (See Wikipedia)

evidence - information that shows and proves something to be true หลักฐาน
evidence-based - using the best evidence to make decisions in some task or activity

Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) - the use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients, uses clinical research studies to determine best treatment (See Wikipedia)

Dr Uche Veronica Amazigo -  former director of WHO’s programme for control of the disease Onchocerciasis in Africa & doctor who has done much work to eliminate this disease (See article #1 and #2 (pdf) and more information such as a photo and a YouTube video)

Onchocerciasis - a parasitic disease from infection by a roundworm "second in world only to trachoma as infectious cause of blindness" (See Wikipedia and pronunciation #1 & #2)

parasite - a living thing such as a worm that when it lives inside of you causes as disease (See Wikipedia)

African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC)

ivermectin - an important drug that kills many different kinds of parasites such as worms (broad-spectrum antiparasitic) (See Wikipedia)

community - local people, all the people who live in a local area or place ชุมชน
treatment - the process of providing medical care การรักษา
community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI)

Brit - British person, person from the UK
 
named the winners of
named the winners of the prestigious Prince Mahidol Award 2012

public health - the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health in a large group of people such as a community or whole country (See Wikipedia)

field - a complicated subject (area of knowledge) that people do as work, research or study as students
the field of medicine
the field of public health

the winner in the field of medicine
the winner in the field of public health

WHO - World Health Organization, the UN organization responsible for world public health (See Wikipedia)

recognised by - when a person is given an award for doing some good thing (an accomplishment)

judge - judge of a competition, one the people who decides who wins an award in some competition or contest ผู้ตัดสิน, กรรมการผู้ตัดสิน
judging - the process of looking closely at, comparing, evaluating to decide who wins an award

committee - a group of people who work together to accomplish some tasks and make some decisions คณะกรรมการ
judging committee
the Prince Mahidol Award judging committee

pioneer - be the first one to do something นักบุกเบิก, ผู้บุกเบิก
a pioneer in providing evidence-based clinical medicine

effective - works well, gets the job done, producing the result that was intended  ได้ผลดี
cost-effective - gets the job done for low cost

healthcare - the treatment and prevention of diseases and other medical problems

guidelines - directions and instructions on how to do something; rules to help guide action แนวทาง นโยบาย
health care guidelines
cost-effective health care guidelines

standards - an acceptable level of quality or achievement มาตรฐาน
standards of healthcare

improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
improve standards of healthcare

aim - purpose; goal เป้าหมาย จุดมุ่งหมาย
aim to improve standards of healthcare

cost-effective health care guidelines that aim to improve standards of healthcare in the UK

capacity - the ability to do something  ความสามารถในการทำงาน
guidelines used by governments to strengthen their capacity for evidence-informed decision making

outstanding - clearly very much better than what is usual ยอดเยี่ยม, ดีเด่น
contribution - something that you do that helps to achieve something or to make it successful ผลงาน,การช่วยเหลือ
outstanding contribution

control - stop a problem from increasing, make something do or behave the way you want ควบคุม
eliminate - get rid of, stop, end กำจัด
controlling and eliminating onchocerciasis

remarkable - unusual or special and therefore surprising and worth mentioning ไม่ธรรมดา
Dr Amazigo is remarkable for her outstanding contribution in controlling and eliminating onchocerciasis

blindness - the condition of being unable to see การสูญเสียสายตา
river blindness - another name for the disease "Onchocerciasis"

Onchocerciasis, or "river blindness", is a major cause of blindness and skin disease in many African countries.

crucial - very important because it effects the result of something สำคัญยิ่ง
role - the purpose or function of someone or something in a situation บทบาท
crucial role

strategy - long-term plans to achieve goals ('strategy' gives the big picture, 'tactics' the details) ยุทธวิธี
successful strategy

he played a crucial role behind their successful strategy

active - working, operating, doing its job
participation - when a person joins an activity and is involved in an activity, instead of just watching

active community participation
relies on active community participation

distribute - to give something to a group of people แจกจ่าย
distribute ivermectin treatment to people who need it

award - a prize or a sum of money that is given to someone following an official decision รางวัล
award presentation - the public event and ceremony of giving an award to someone who receives it (award receipient)

late in January - near the end of the month of January 
an award presentation will take place in Bangkok late in January.

awardee - a person who receives an award
each awardee will receive a US$100,000 (3.1 million baht) prize.

personnel - people who work for a company or organisation
medical personnel - people who work in the field of medicine, doctors, nurses, physical therapists who work at hospitals and clinics

nominated - officially suggested for a job or position แต่งตั้ง
A total of 75 medical personnel from 34 countries were nominated this year.

Tell us what you think about this article

Like dislike 2 people liked / 0 people disliked it

Share this article

0

0

• More +

• Republishing permission
• Print this

Bangkok Post online classifieds

Try buying & selling goods and properties 24/7 in our classifieds which has high purchasing power local & expatriate audience from within Thailand and around the world.