History of the Prince Mahidol Award and Prince Mahidol Award Conference
His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla was born on 1 January 1892, a royal son of Their Majesties King Rama V and Queen Savang Vadhana of Siam. In 1912, His Majesty King Rama VI commissioned him as a lieutenant in the Royal Thai Navy.
While serving in the Royal Thai Navy, Prince Mahidol of Songkla had noted the serious need for improvement in the standards of medical practitioners and public health in Thailand. In undertaking such a mission, he decided to study public health at M.I.T. and medicine at Harvard University in the US. Prince Mahidol set in motion a whole range of activities in accordance with his conviction that human resource development at the national level is of utmost importance and his belief that improvement of public health constitutes an essential factor in national development. He also provided a considerable sum of his own money to be used as scholarships for talented students to study abroad. After he returned home with his well-earned M.D. and C.P.H. in 1928, Prince Mahidol taught preventive and social medicine to Änal year medical students at Siriraj Medical School. He also worked as a resident doctor at McCormick Hospital in Chiang Mai and performed operations alongside Dr. E.C. Cord, Director of the hospital. As ever, Prince Mahidol did much more than was required in attending his patients, taking care of needy patients at all hours of the day and night, and even, according to records, donating his own blood for them.
Prince Mahidol’s initiatives and efforts produced a most remarkable and lasting impact on the advancement of modern medicine and public health in Thailand such that he was subsequently honoured with the title of “Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand”.
In commemoration of the Centenary of the Birthday of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla on 1 January 1992, the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation was established under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej to bestow an international award – the Prince Mahidol Award – upon individuals or institutions throughout the world that make outstanding and exemplary contributions to the advancement of medicine, public health and human services.
The Prince Mahidol Awards are conferred on an annual basis with prizes worth a total of approximately US$100,000. A Committee, consisting of world-renowned scientists and public health experts, recommends a selection of laureates whose nominations must be submitted to the Secretary-General of the Foundation before 31st May of each year. The committee will decide on the number of prizes to be awarded annually, which shall not exceed two in any one year. The prizes are given for outstanding performance and/or research in the Äeld of medicine for the beneÄt of mankind and for outstanding contributions in the Äeld of health for the sake of the well-being of the people. These two categories were established in commemoration of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol’s graduation with a Doctor of Medicine (Cum Laude) degree and CertiÄcate of Public Health and in respect to his statement that:
“True success is not in the learning, but in its application to the beneÄt of mankind.”
The Prince Mahidol Award ceremony is held in Bangkok in January each year and presided over by His Majesty the King of Thailand. Prince Mahidol Award Conference was first held in 1998 to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Prince Mahidol Award. It was held again in 2002 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the award. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the award and the 115th Birthday Anniversary of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla in 2007, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, President of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation under the Royal Patronage, requested the conference be held annually.
Since then, the Prince Mahidol Award Conference has been held as an annual international conference focusing on policyrelated public health issues of global signiÄcance. The conference is hosted by the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, the Royal Thai Government and other global partners, for example the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Rockefeller Foundation, the China Medical Board (CMB), and other UN agencies.
The general objective of the annual Prince Mahidol Award Conference is to bring together leading public health leaders and stakeholders from around the world to discuss high priority global health issues, summarise findings and propose concrete solutions and recommendations. It aims to be an international forum that global health institutes, both public and private, can co-own and use for the advocacy and seeking of international advice on important global health issues. SpeciÄc objectives of each year’s conference are discussed among key stakeholders and co-hosts of the conference.
Conference participants include ministers, senior government ofÄcials, intergovernmental organisations, international development partners, global health initiatives, health policy and health systems researchers and advocators, civil society organisations, and high-level stakeholders from developing and developed countries.