Thailand’s Rural Doctors Movement (RDM) became one of the five recipients of the prestigious 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award today. Regarded as the “Nobel Prize” of Asia, the awards are made by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF).
The RDM was cited by the RMAF board of trustees for its historic and continuing contribution to the health of people in Thailand, by championing the cause of the rural poor and making sure that no one is left behind as the nation prospers and modernises.
The RDM, consisting of the Rural Doctor Society and the Rural Doctor Foundation, has emerged as a unified force of Thai doctors advocating for healthcare in rural areas for the past 48 years. Their achievement is the establishment of a system that ensures equal access to health care for all and prevents corruption in health care administration.
The other recipients of this year’s award are Karma Phuntsho from Bhutan, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong from Vietnam, Farwiza Farhan from Indonesia and Miyazaki Hayao from Japan.
Responding to the announcement, RDM thanked the RMAF board of trustees and attributed this award to the dedication of all the present and former medical personnel who have been working in rural areas over the past 48 years, civil society, the NGOs, the people’s organisation and the media.
The RDM added that there is still work to be done, including reducing the equality gap, establishing a just society and health care system and the complete eradication of corruption in the medical sector.
Since 1957, 25 individuals and organisations in Thailand have received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, including the latest recipient, the RDM.
