MOS health confers BMJ Awards South Asia 2017, Here are the Winners!

New Delhi: Given the diverse nature of the healthcare projects being undertaken in South Asia, documenting and rewarding those who are striving to deliver excellence is a daunting task. The BMJ Awards South Asia 2017 seek to reward the individuals and teams who are working tirelessly to improve the quality of healthcare in the region.

After the success of BMJ Awards South Asia 2016, this year too, nominations were invited from the South Asia region including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar and Maldives in numerous categories like healthcare quality, medical education, healthcare innovation and research. More than 2000 high-quality nominations were received for the Awards from across South Asia and these were shortlisted to 30 nominations across 10 categories. Winners were presented with a trophy and certificate amongst India’s most senior healthcare professionals, industry executives, government officials, academicians, and researchers.

The Chief Guest for the Awards was Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubeyji, The  Hon’ble Minister of State,  Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, New Delhi, who addressed the audience and gave away awards providing encouragement to the winners and finalists alike.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest Mr Ashwini Kumar Choubey, The Hon'ble Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India said, “I congratulate British Medical Journal for organizing the award function. I appreciate the efforts of team BMJ to promote healthcare across the globe.”

The Awards this year consisted of a diverse and egalitarian mix of categories spanning healthcare quality, medical education, technological innovation and research, and clinical excellence.

Dr Sonal Asthana, won in the category of Excellence in Medical Education, from Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore, India for the project “National Organ Retrieval Course”

Dr Ramya de Silva, from Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo, Sri Lanka, won in the category of Healthcare Innovation of the Year for the Neonatal Transport Project

The Infectious Diseases category has two winners:

Dr Ritesh Agarwal, from Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi, India co-winner of the category Infectious Disease Initiative of the Year for the project “Chasing Zero VAP - An Initiative to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia in the intensive care unit

Prof Shrijana Shrestha, from Patan Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal co-winner of the category Infectious Disease Initiative of the Year for the project Fighting Pneumonia in Nepal.

Dr Aarti Avinash Kinikar, from B.J Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, Pune, India for the category Maternal & Child Health Team of the Year for the project Human Milk Banking -A sustainable means to reduce neonatal mortality in developing countries.

Dr Kamrun Nahar Koly, from International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh for the category Mental Health Team of the Year for the project Promoting Mental Health Care of the Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Bangladesh

Dr Rajendra Prasad, Honorary Medical Director, Indian Head Injury Foundation and also from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, India won in the category “Non-Communicable Disease Initiative of the Year”

Ms Swati Mahendru from Manipal University, Manipal, India for the category Post Graduate Thesis of the Year, won in the category “Development and Validation of multidimensional pictorial questionnaire for adult hearing impaired individuals”

The Quality Improvement Team of the Year category has two winners:

Dr Lallu Joseph, from Christian Medical College, Vellore, India for the project Hub and Spoke Model of Quality Management - CMC Vellore Experience co-winner of the category Quality Improvement Team of the Year.

Dr Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, from International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh co-winner of the category Quality Improvement Team of the Year for the project Improvement of quality of care in patients of Dhaka hospital of icddr,b, Bangladesh

Dr Saeed Anwar, from Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan won in the category of Research Paper of the Year for project “Community engagement and integrated health and polio immunization campaigns in conflict-affected areas of Pakistan: a cluster randomized controlled trial”

The Surgical Team of the Year category has two winners:

Dr Lobsang Tsetim, co-winner of the category Surgical Team of the Year from Ramakrishna Mission Hospital, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India for the project Outreach surgical eye camps in hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Dr Faisal Saud Dar, co-winner of the category Surgical Team of the Year from Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan for the project Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Pakistan

Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief, The BMJ said “Delighted to bring the fourth edition of the BMJ Awards South Asia. This edition of the awards has become bigger than previous editions with 2015 nominations from across the region.  We had to do the hard task of short-listing 30 finalists and eventually select 13 winners in different categories. The work done by all of them are of highest standards and innovative in approach, that eventually makes an positive impact on the lives of many a people.

Prashant Mishra, Managing Director, BMJ India said ‘Every year, we wish to further raise the bar with BMJ Awards South Asia. In 2017, we have received 2000+ nominations, from all 8 participating eight countries – a hugely encouraging milestone for us. We hope clinicians utilize this platform to showcase to the world how their efforts are transforming healthcare. We are confident that this year’s Awards will showcase the most spectacular achievements of doctors in South Asia from remote and far flung corners and help them receive the felicitations that they truly deserve.”

BMJ prides itself on the credibility of its awards and winners. The awards are given solely on merit and are awarded to commend those who have accomplished the most impactful healthcare work in South Asia.