Centre for Health and Population Research to Receive First Ever Gates Award for Global Health

SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will present the first ever Gates Award for Global Health to the Centre for Health and Population Research, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Established 40 years ago, the Centre is a major international health institution, focused on addressing conditions prevalent in developing countries and associated with poverty. Also known as ICDDR,B – the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh – the Centre pioneered the discovery and development of oral rehydration solution (ORS), which today saves the lives of two-and-a-half-million children each year from what used to be the leading infectious killer in the world: diarrhea. The Centre has also played a central role in cholera vaccine research and applied research programs on maternal and child health. Today it continues its groundbreaking work in child survival, safe pregnancy and delivery, family planning, emerging infections, tuberculosis, dengue fever, and nutrition research.

"We live in an age when the separation between national and international health agendas no longer works. And while poverty lies at the root of many ills, ill health in its turn has a devastating effect on the economies of developing nations," said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who recently called for a global mobilization strategy in response the AIDS crisis. "To build a more equitable global society, there is no more important investment than public health in the developing world. This award brings long overdue recognition to an organization which has demonstrated visionary leadership in that field."

The Gates Award recognizes an organization that has made a major and lasting contribution to the field of global health. The foundation announced the establishment of the annual $1 million award in December 2000 to bring much-deserved recognition to groups dedicated to promoting better health for all citizens of the world.

The award is being administered by the Global Health Council, the world's largest membership alliance dedicated to health improvement and equity globally. In selecting this year's recipient, the Council's board of directors considered the following criteria: extraordinary contributions toward progress in the knowledge and practice of health in low-income societies, demonstrated leadership, an established record of achievement, innovation in program design, organizational capacity, collaboration with others, evidence that contributions have been adopted across geographic and organizational boundaries, and substantial impact on health around the world.

"When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced they had established this award for Global Health, an enthusiastic wave swept through the entire international health community. We were deeply honored when we learned that our Centre had been selected as its first recipient," said David Sack, M.D., director of the Centre. "On behalf of the more than 1,500 staff -- from the attendants and community health workers to the programme heads, to the countless volunteers and advocates who have participated in the Centre's mission for the last 40 years -- I thank the foundation for this incredibly compassionate award. I thank them, too, for recognizing the importance of putting meaningful, rigorous science where the health problems are. Our Centre in Bangladesh is trying to do just that."

The award will be presented in Washington, DC, on Thursday, May 31st at a dinner during the Global Health Council's annual international conference, "Healthy Women, Healthy World: Challenges for the Future." UN Secretary General Annan will be the evening's keynote speaker and Melinda Gates, co-founder of the foundation and co-chair of the Global Health Council's 2001 conference, will present the award.