The awardees include Dr Abhay Bang and Dr Rani Bang, founders of the organisation SEARCH, and Dr Naveen Thacker, Executive Director of the International Paediatric Association.
Dr Abhay Bang and Dr Rani Bang were honoured for their pioneering work in community-based healthcare, while Dr Naveen Thacker was recognised for advancing child health through innovative, community-driven approaches.
They were among 10 global Goalkeepers Champions selected this year, a group that includes experts, innovators, and advocates making progress in child survival worldwide.
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Dr Abhay Bang and Dr Rani Bang, a husband-and-wife team, have dedicated their lives to reforming healthcare in rural India. Their pioneering work in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, through the Society for Education, Action, and Research in Community Health (SEARCH), has led to revolutionary interventions.
The Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) was set up by Dr Abhay and Dr Rani Bang at Gadchiroli. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s values, their journey reflects how deep community engagement and simple, low-cost interventions can create lasting health impact. SEARCH pioneered programmes to train rural women in pneumonia treatment and newborn care, reducing infant mortality from 121 to 16 per 1000 live births.
Inspired by this model, the Government of India launched the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) programme. Today, over a million ASHA workers provide healthcare to 15 million newborns across the country. Dr Bang’s approach has now been adopted in more than 80 countries worldwide, as per an Indian Express media report.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Dr Abhay said, "It was a coincidence that the award was presented on his 75th birthday. However, if we (Dr Rani and I) could contribute to saving the lives of millions of children in this world, there couldn’t have been a better meaning in our lives." Dr Rani Bang also said that it was an honour for their organisation, SEARCH and for the people of Gadchiroli.
However, according to Dr Abhay Bang, the next big challenge is to find a way to prevent non-communicable diseases, which is more difficult than reducing child mortality.
For Dr Naveen Thacker, it is a proud moment as this paediatrician from Gandhidham, Gujarat, was honoured as a 2025 Goalkeepers Champion. When contacted in New York, Dr Thacker, who is the Director of Deep Children Hospital and Research Centre, Gandhidham, spoke about his journey from a small town to global leadership.
Dr Thacker saw his hospital collapse during the devastating Kutch earthquake in 2001. Despite the setback, he rebuilt it and became more determined to serve children. A pioneer in polio eradication, he diagnosed 55 cases in a single month in 1994, sparking his lifelong commitment to end vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2017, UNICEF recognised him as one of the top influencers in polio eradication worldwide.
At the 2025 Goalkeepers event, Gates Foundation Chair Bill Gates delivered a strong yet hopeful message to world leaders: work together to save millions of children’s lives and eliminate some of history’s deadliest diseases by 2045.
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