Padma Awards in Medicine 2024: 3 doctors get Padma Bhushan, 10 conferred Padma Shri

New Delhi: On the occasion of Republic Day, the goverment has announced the Padma Awards and 13 eminent persions have made it to the list for their varied contribtions to the field of medicine.

Three doctors have been conferred the ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order while 10 have been conferred ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in the field of medicine

Following are the Padma Bhushan awardees in Medicine

1) Shri Ashwin Balachand Mehta- Maharashtra - One of the pioneers of Interventional Cardiology in India, Dr AB Mehta is credited to have performed India's first cardiac catheterization and angiography on newborn babies. With an exceptional track record of thousands of angiographies and angiopasties in India, he is currently practicing as the Director Cardiology Jaslok Hospital and also associated with Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. He was conferred with a Padma Shri in 2004

2) Shri Tejas Madhusudan Patel- Gujarat- Another eminent cardiologist of the country, Dr Tejas Madhusudan Patel is known for pioneering the transradial technique, which made coronary interventions safe, accurate, and significantly decreased patient morbidity, mortality as well as duration of hospital stay from 3-5 days in the past to 24-36 hours among other significant developments. He is currently serving as the Chairman and Chief Interventional Cardiologist at Apex Heart Institute, Ahmedabad, India. Dr Patel was conferred Padma Shri in 2015

3) Shri Chandreshwar Prasad Thakur- Bihar- A prominent medical professional and former Union Minister from the state of Bihar, he is known for his discovery of the first oral drug in the world for the dreaded disease Kala Azar,the second-largest parasitic killer in the world and a disease that is prevalent in Bihar. He is further credited with the establishment of AIIMS Patna, from doing the groundwork work and getting it approved from the central government

Following are the list of Padma Shri awardees in Medicine

1) Ms. Prema Dhanraj- Karnataka - A 72 year old burn surgeon, Dr Prema Dhanraj was a burn victim herself at the young age of 7. What happened next was a miraculous story of a woman who dedicated her life to the treatment of burns. Dhanraj went on to become one of India’s top plastic surgeons and Head of the Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery Department at a Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. Dhanraj is regarded as a pioneer in the field of reconstructive surgery and operated over 25,000 burn victims.

2) Shri Radha Krishan Dhiman- Uttar Pradesh- Presently working as the Professor of Hepatology and Director, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) Lucknow, Dr Dhiman is known for his various contributions including eradication of Hepatitis C in 22 districts of Punjab, Covid management in Lucknow and starting organ donation campaign by setting up SOTTO

3) Shri Manohar Krishana Dole- Maharashtra- A 95 year old Ayurvedic Doctor, Manohar Dole, has been treating tribal eye patients for free for the last 38 years in his own hospital in Pune. Manohar dole has completed his medical studies in 1962 following which he opened a small clinic on the Nashik-Pune highway and started treating patients. He has been helping adivasis and the poor from neighbouring parts of the state to get treatment for cataracts, eye operations and other eye ailments and has given free treatment to about more than 1.75 lakh patients with eye ailments

4) Shri Yazdi Maneksha Italia- Gujarat- A renowned microbiologist who pioneered the development of India’s inaugural Sickle Cell Anemia Control Program in Gujarat impacting 15 lakh tribals. This program was awarded Prime Minister’s Award as a model project for all India level. He is co-investigator for many ICMR research projects including Indo-US NBS project.

5) Shri Hemchand Manjhi- Chhattisgarh- Vaidyaraj Hemchand Manjhi from Chhattisgarh is a traditional medicine practitioner treating patients across states, especially the needy in villages. He is known for his knowledge of special herbs from the remote Abujhmarh forests in the naxal-affected areas of Chattisgarh. He has been treating serious diseases like cancer with special species of herbs obtained from the forests since the age of 1

6) Shri Chandrashekhar Mahadeorao Meshram- Maharashtra- 69 year old Dr Chandrashekhar Mahadeorao Meshram is an eminent neurologist, known for championing brain health awareness as qwll as his extensive contributions to neurological education and reserch

7) Ms. G Nachiyar- Tamil Nadu- Visionary Opthalmologist, 82 year old Dr Nachiyar is one of the founding members of world-renowned Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, and has made significant contributions in her 55 year old career to field of opthalmology and eye care through her transformative leadership at Aravind Eye care

8) Shri Radhe Shyam Pareek- Uttar Pradesh- 90 year old Dr Radhe Shyam Pareek is a veteran Homeopathy physician credited with treating more than 23 lakh patients in over 60 years of his career

9) Shri Dayal Mavjibhai Parmar- Gujarat- 88 year old Dr Dayal Mavjibhai Parmar is a veteran Ayurveda practitioners from Morbi with more than 60 years of experience and is known for authoring more than 50 books on the subject and providing free medical services to patients in his area

10) Shri Chandrashekar Channapatna Rajannachar- Karnataka- A veteran psychaitrist, 75 year old Dr Chandrashekar Channapatna Rajannachar is known for providing free mental health treatment to 50,000 patients as well as training 20,000 professionals