New Delhi | 22 September 2025: The Female Community Health Volunteers of Nepal, disability inclusion champion Dr. Satendra Singh, and the Lepra Society, were today announced as winners of the newly instituted WHO South-East Asia Region’s Award for Public Health Champion.
The Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) are being recognized for their transformative role in improving maternal and child health, increasing immunization coverage, promoting nutrition, and managing disease outbreaks, even in Nepal’s most geographically and socially challenged regions.
The FCHVs efforts have significantly contributed to reducing maternal mortality from 901 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 151 in 2021, and under-five mortality from 162 to 28 per 1,000 live births (NDHS 2022, UNICEF). Internationally recognized as a low-cost, high-impact model, the FCHV program is a replicable example of sustainable, gender-equitable, and community-led health systems strengthening.
Dr. Satendra Singh, Director-Professor of Physiology at the University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, has been selected for the award in the individual category for championing disability inclusion in health systems and medical education.
Drawing from his own lived experience with disability, Dr Singh has spearheaded transformative advocacy that reframed disability from a medical limitation to a human rights issue, influencing policies, curricula, and institutional practices in India and across the world. Dr. Singh’s work exemplifies sustainable, inclusive public health innovation rooted in equity and empowerment.
The LEPRA Society, an NGO operating since 1989, has been selected as a Public Health Champion in the institution category. It has played a pivotal role in medical breakthroughs such as the development of Clofazimine to treat leprosy, the introduction of Multi-Drug Therapy, and the creation of custom-made footwear to prevent ulcers.
The LEPRA Society operates across nine states and 143 districts in India, providing services through 146 healthcare centers in underserved and hard-to-reach areas. It has expanded its work to address other health challenges like tuberculosis, HIV, lymphatic filariasis, and also COVID-19 during the pandemic. The LEPRA Society remains a person-centered healthcare provider that integrates innovation, research, and compassion to serve marginalized communities and improve public health.
WHO South-East Asia Regional Office announced the Award for Public Health Champion in June this year, to honor extraordinary efforts of individuals and institutions whose contributions have created a lasting impact in public health and resulted in tangible health gains for Member States or for the Region as a whole. Fifty nominations were received for the award from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Thailand.
The Champions will be felicitated at an event on the sidelines of the 78th session of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Committee meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
WHO SEARO
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