Padma Bhushan Dr. K. Srinath Reddy honoured at Buckingham Palace in London….writes Ragasudha Vinjamuri
Padma Bhushan Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India has been conferred an honorary Doctor of Science (Medicine) for his outstanding contributions to public health and cardiologyat a special ceremony held at Buckingham Palace today by Princess Anne, who is also the Chancellor of the University. The oration presenting Dr Reddy’s credentials and accomplishments was delivered by Dr Peter Piot, Director & Professor of Global Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the discoverer of the Ebola virus.
Prof. Reddy has been heading the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) since its inception in 2006 under whose leadership PHFI has established five Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPHs) in different regions of India working to transform public health through education research, policy support, public communication and development of affordable technologies for primary health services, thereby strengthening health systems across the country.
He was previously Head of Cardiology Department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and is presently serving as President of the World Heart Federation (WHF), an umbrella organization for all national and continental cardiac societies and heart foundations across the world. He is the first Indian to have been elected to the position. He has also created large scale worksite and school based programmes for prevention of heart disease and diabetes whose impactful results have been published in prestigious journals and acclaimed internationally as ‘best practices’ for replication. He played a prominent role in the development of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) representing India in the international treaty negotiations. Widely regarded as a thought leader in global health, he is a Visiting Professor at Harvard, Emory and Sydney Universities.
Accepting the award of the Degree of Doctor of Science (Medicine) Honoris Causa at the 2014 Foundation Ceremony of the University of London, Reddy said, “I am grateful for this recognition of my lifelong commitment to improving the health of the people of India and my contributions to global health. I believe it is a tribute to India’s resolute pursuit of good health and wellbeing for all of its people and its steadfast solidarity with other nations who seek the same for their people. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, global health is the best unifying platform. The Public Health Foundation of, India (PHFI), which I am proud to lead, represents these values. My work reflects the contributions of the collective PHFI family.”
