Bangladeshi vaccine scientist wins Ramon Magsaysay award

• The Ramon Magsaysay award 2021 has been conferred to a Bangladeshi vaccine scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri along with the other 4 recipients.
• The other four recipients are Roberto Ballon from the Philippines, Steven Muncy from Southeast Asia, an Indonesian torch bearer for investigative journalism, Watchdoc and Muhammad Amjad Saqib from Pakistan.

Firdausi Qadri:

• She is a vaccine scientist in Bangladesh who has been instrumental in discovering vaccines that have saved millions of lives.
• She had a key role in the development of a more affordable oral cholera vaccine (OCV) and the typhoid conjugate vaccine (ViTCV) for adults, children, and even infants as young as nine months.

Roberto Ballon:

• He is a fisherman and community environmentalist from the Southern Philippines who has led a community in restoring their rich aquatic resources and their primary source of livelihood

Steven Muncy:

• He is a humanitarian who has been helping the displaced refugees of Southeast Asia rebuild their lives.

WatchDoc:

• It is a production house that ingeniously combines documentary filmmaking and alternative platforms to highlight underreported issues in Indonesia.
• Awarded for investigative journalism

Muhammad Amjad Saqib:

• Awarded for outstanding efforts in restoring human dignity, alleviating poverty
• He had found one of the largest microfinance institutions in Pakistan to fight against poverty.
• His foundation has distributed 4.8 million interest-free loans amounting to the equivalent of USD900 million, helping three million families, with a remarkable 99.9% loan repayment rate.

Ramon Magsaysay Award:

• The award was established in 1957 as an annual award in memory of the third president of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay.
• It is also regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.
• It was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers trustees with the concurrence of the Philippine government.
• The award is presented in a formal ceremony in Manila, the Philippines on August 31 each year.