Public health prizes and awards Sasakawa Health PrizeThe Sasakawa Health Prize was established in 1984 upon the initiative and with funds provided by Mr Ryoichi Sasakawa, Chairman of the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation and President of the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation.
The Prize aims at encouraging the further development of outstanding innovative work in health development, such as the promotion of given health programmes or notable advances in primary health care, that has already been accomplished and extends far beyond the call of normal duties, as per the Statutes of the Prize.
The Prize consists of a statuette and a sum of money of the order of US$ 30 000 to be given to individuals, and/or of the order of US$ 40 000 to be given to institutions that have accomplished outstanding innovative work in health development.
The Prize is awarded at a special ceremony during a plenary of the World Health Assembly. It is presented by the President of the World Health Assembly, together with the Director-General of the WHO and a representative of the foundation.
WHO/Pierre Albouy
Dr Archana Amatya accepting the Sasakawa Health Prize on behalf of the Nick Simons Institute (Nepal)
WHO/Pierre Albouy
Dr Vichai Tienthavorn (Thailand) receiving the Sasakawa Health Prize
Procedure for the proposal and selection of candidates
Any national health administration as well as any former recipient of the prize may nominate a candidate for the award. Current and former staff members of the World Health Organization and current members of the Executive Board are ineligible to receive the award.
The guidelines (especially paragraph 4, regarding the selection criteria, and 6 and 7, regarding adequate documentation) should be read carefully before the application form is completed.
The application form should include a description of the candidate’s achievements relating to the area of focus of the Prize, emphasize how the candidature meets the selection criteria that are included in the Guidelines for the Prize, and how the award funds will be used to further develop the work.
Based on applications received, proposals are made to the Director-General of WHO, who submits them to the Prize Selection Panel together with his/her technical comments. The Selection Panel meets to decide on the recommendation to be made to the Executive Board, which designates the recipients of the Prize.
