AIIMS doctor receives WHO award

Dr K Srinath Reddy, professor of cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has been selected for his outstanding contributions to global tobacco control by the World Health Organisation. The Director General of WHO, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland will present the award to Prof Reddy at the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003. Dr Reddy said, “I felt greatly honoured by this award and was grateful to the Ministry of Health and AIIMS who encouraged and enabled me to contribute to global and national efforts for tobacco control.” Dr Reddy was a member of the Indian delegation to the international negotiations on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). He is a member of WHO’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Tobacco Product Regulation and the Coordinator of HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) and SHAN (Student Health Action Network).

The HRIDAY-SHAN programme has been selected by WHO as a ‘best practice’ model recommended for replication in South East Asia and other regions. Dr Reddy has assisted the Ministry of Health, Government of India, in tobacco control and has worked with NGOs to mobilise popular support for the Tobacco Control Bill recently passed by the Parliament.