BMJ Awards South Asia 2017: hunting for the heroes of healthcare
BMJ 2017; 359 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4542 (Published 03 October 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;359:j4542
- Jeetha D’Silva, freelance journalist
- Mumbai, India
- j.dsilva{at}gmail.com
This year’s BMJ Awards South Asia, which honour outstanding contributions to healthcare in the region, have received an overwhelming response. From 2015 nominations, 138 projects have been chosen as semifinalists.
These not only showcase the breadth and calibre of efforts to improve healthcare and patient outcomes in South Asia, they also indicate that the awards are considered an aspiration by the region’s healthcare community.
Awarded annually by the BMJ, the parent healthcare knowledge company that publishes The BMJ, the South Asia awards recognise exemplary work being done in healthcare throughout the region.
Shortlisted nominations for this year’s awards include live donor hepatobiliary transplant units in Pakistan and Sri Lanka; a research project to determine and improve maternal and fetal outcome among pregnant women after open heart surgery in Bangladesh; a project focused on pneumonia in Nepal; and projects that strive to improve mental health using information and communications technology.
Raising the bar
“Every year, we wish to raise the bar,” said Prashant Mishra, BMJ’s managing director in India and South Asia. “This year’s awards will showcase the most spectacular achievements of doctors in South Asia, and help them receive the felicitations that they deserve.”
This year, in its fourth edition, the awards received 2015 nominations among 10 categories, compared with 1523 nominations received last year.1 India produced the most entries, with 1786 nominations, Pakistan produced 73, Bangladesh 53, Sri Lanka 52, Nepal 45, and Bhutan, Maldives, and Myanmar two each.
“The increase has not just been in the numbers of entries but also in their quality,” said Prashant Jha, The BMJ’s senior editor in South Asia. “This is the first time we have had nominations from every country in the …