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3
joint winners of one
million US dollar
2018 Al Sumait Prize
for Health announced
(Kuwait City, Kuwait) -
Kuwait's
Deputy Premier and Foreign
Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled
Al-Hamad Al-Sabah heads the
Members of Board of Trustees
of Al-Sumait Prize for
African development meeting.
Following consideration of
the jury and selection
committees’ reports, the
Board of Trustees has
decided to award half of the
Prize to Professor Salim S.
Abdool Karim, Director of
the Centre for the AIDS
Program of Research, Pro
Vice-Chancellor (Research)
at the University of
KwaZulu-Natal in South
Africa and Professor at
Columbia University. The
second half of the prize is
to be shared equally between
Professor Sheila K. West
Vice Chair for Research
Wilmer Eye Institute at
Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, and the
Rakai Health Sciences
Program, which is a
nonprofit independent
research center based in
Rakai, Uganda.
Professor Abdool Karim has
been jointly awarded the
prize for his
recognized
contributions to science in
HIV treatment and prevention
over the past three decades,
which have led to
significant changes in
health policy and practices
worldwide. He has published
more than 350 papers in
world-class medical journals
and his efforts in research
on prevention and treatment
of AIDS patients has been a
major factor in the decline
in HIV/AIDS and mortality
rates in Africa and the
world.
His findings on HIV-TB, a
leading cause of death in
Africa, are specifically
mentioned in many country
treatment policies and
guidelines, and are being
implemented worldwide. The
impact is highly tangible (eg.
HIV-TB deaths have halved in
South Africa since 2012).
Professor West has been
jointly awarded the prize in
recognition for her
dedicated research focused
in Africa on ways to improve
trichiasis surgery outcomes
and eliminate blinding
trachoma. Her work has
contributed to the control
of blindness for both
children and adults.
She has been instrumental in
the development of the World
Health Organization SAFE
strategy for Trachoma
prevention and control, a
sustainable strategy that is
now widely used throughout
the world and is preventing
blindness among both
children and adults.
Professor West continues her
work on neglected tropical
diseases in the poorest
communities with partners
across the globe.
The third joint winner of
the 2018 prize is the Rakai
Health Sciences Program (RHSP)
in recognition for its
important role in improving
public health in the African
continent by fighting
against HIV/AIDS and
sexually transmitted
diseases, and for
discovering -three decades
ago- the first clinical
symptoms of what was then a
new medical phenomenon
called "slim disease” on the
African continent.
The program also succeeded
in documenting the
importance of male
circumcision and its
positive impact as an
effective means of reducing
HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases, while
the publications of the
program in prestigious
medical journals have had a
significant impact on health
policies in Africa and the
world.
RHSP employs 350 full-time
Ugandan research and
clinical staff that include
epidemiologists,
demographers, clinical and
basic science researchers,
behavioral, laboratory
scientists, and research
support staff. Additional
RHSP staff, about 370,
provide HIV treatment and
prevention services
resulting from RHSP
research.
H.E. Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad
Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime
Minister, Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Chairman
of Al Sumait’s Board of
Trustees said: "Our goal
with this prize is to
promote positive change
across Africa, and these
newly announced laureates of
the Al-Sumait Prize for
African Development have
been working tirelessly in
their field of Health to
create a positive and
sustainable difference
across Africa and the
world.”
Dr. Kwaku Aning, Chairman of
the Ghana Atomic Energy
Commission (GAEC) and Member
of Al Sumait Prize Board,
said: “The achievements of
all the winners for the
award this year represent a
high level of commitment to
the challenges facing the
African continent in health
care. The efforts of two of
the three winners are
focused on ways to treat and
prevent HIV/AIDS, which is
the leading cause of death
in Africa.
"The third winner focuses on
the treatment of blinding
trachoma, which is not a
direct cause of high
mortality, but a disease
that is described as an
“orphan" affecting members
of the poorest communities
in developing countries. The
decision to award the prize
to three winners is a
testament to the dedication
of all candidates to efforts
to improve health in the
African continent."
Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin,
Director General of the
Kuwait Foundation for the
Advancement of Sciences (KFAS),
said: “Our Laureates for the
2018 Al Sumait Prize are
responsible for measurable
improvements to the lives
and life expectancy of
millions of those suffering
from HIV and Trachoma and
decreasing death rates of
AIDS, through innovative
research on treatment and
prevention and in
championing sustainable
changes in health polices
across Africa and the
world.”
The prize amount of one
million US dollars, offered
by the State of Kuwait, is
awarded annually to
individuals or institutions
within one of the three
fields of Food Security,
Health and Education. The
Board of Trustees (BOT),
which oversees the prize, is
chaired by H.E. Sheikh Sabah
Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah,
Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
and its members include:
Bill Gates, co-chair of the
Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Dr. Kwaku Aning,
Chairman of the Governing
Board of Ghana Atomic Energy
Commission, Chairman of
Ghana Nuclear Energy
Institute and Former Deputy
Director General of the
International Atomic Energy
Agency, Abdulatif Alhamad,
Director General and
Chairman of the Arab Fund
for Economic and Social
Development, Tareq Al-Mutawa,
Executive Member of the
Board of Public Gathering
Charity Committee and
Makhtar Diop, Vice President
for Africa, The World Bank.
The Kuwait Foundation for
the Advancement of Sciences
(KFAS) provides all the
administrative and logistic
support.
An initiative of His
Highness Sheikh Sabah
Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah,
the Amir of the State of
Kuwait, which provides the
annual million dollar, the
Prize honors the late Dr.
Abdulrahman Al Sumait, a
Kuwaiti doctor who dedicated
his life to addressing the
health challenges
confronting Africa.
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