Apollo Hospitals in partnership with Network18 celebrate the ‘Healers of India’ at a gala event in New Delhi

• Union Health Minister, Sh. JP Nadda addressed the gathering and congratulated the Apollo Group and Chairman on this unique initiative
• Union Health Secretary, Sh. CK Mishra, highlighted the importance of this initiative in recognising those working at the grassroots

The ‘Healers of India’ Story:

Conceptualised by Chairman, the Apollo Group in partnership with Network18 constituted the ‘Healers of India’ initiative on September 18th 2016. This unique initiative in collaboration with Network18 (proprietors of several TV channels including among others, CNN News18, News18 India, CNBC-TV 18 etc.) is a tribute to our Chairman’s contribution to Indian healthcare and aims to identify and inspire many such HEALERS from across India. Doing so by identifying and recognizing the efforts of the rural healthcare professionals, it aimed to highlight the selfless service of many organizations and individuals working towards the cause of rural health upliftment.

As part of the initiative, nominations were invited for various categories which comprehensively covered all aspects of rural health delivery in India. The initiative was a collaborative effort, with celebrated partners which included:

• The American India Foundation and Public Health Foundation of India as Knowledge Partners
• Uday Foundation as the Outreach Partner
• Ernst and Young as the Process Partner

The initiative was launched on our foundation anniversary on September 18th with full-page press advertisements in all major national and regional print publications, outdoor hoardings across all major airports, TV advertisements and a digital campaign highlighting the initiative and seeking nominations. This outreach was followed with a sustained presence and focus on the print, electronic and digital media to ensure the widest possible number of nominations and participation from across the country. This was complemented with physical outreach to several corners of the country to spread awareness on this initiative.

Categories and Nominations

As a result of the outreach and awareness drive, the initiative garnered in excess of 1.3 Lac nominations across the various categories, including:

• Angels of Rural India
• Asha Workers
• Healers in Calamities
• Technology Solutions for Rural Health
• CSR in Healthcare
• Healthy State Award
• Citizens for Better Health
• Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Selfless Service Award

Concurrently, two panel discussions with eminent health domain leaders was organised and aired to deep-dive into the contemporary issues in rural healthcare services. Ms. Upasna Kamineni, represented Apollo Hospitals in these discussions. The panel subjects were:

In addition, several documentaries on ‘Celebrating the Healthcare Heroes in Rural India’ were aired on partner channels on 7^th, 8^th, 21^st and 22^nd January. These documentaries video-sketched the work and impact of several nominees and institutions that have worked tirelessly in rural India to uplift health standards.

Awards Jury and Winner Selection

To evaluate, shortlist and award winners for the categories, a high-powered and distinguished jury was empaneled. The jury included:

• Sh. Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, McCann World Group Asia Pacific
• Dr. (Prof.) Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi
• Dr. (Prof.) Jagdish Prasad – Director General Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India
• Dr. KK Aggarwal, Honorary Secretary General, Indian Medical Association
• Sh. Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Country Head, India ACCESS Health
• Dr. Lalit Kumar– Hony. Senior Vice President, Sulabh International Social Service Organisation

Ernst & Young assisted the jury in tabulating and setting a thorough evaluation process of all nominees and presented each nominee at the Jury Meet on January 24^th in Noida. The juries deliberated over the course of the day to shortlist and select the final list of winners that they deemed as most deserving from the very illustrious list of nominations.

Grand Finale & Awards Night

The Healers of India initiative culminated at the Grand Finale and Awards Night, which was hosted on March 29^th at the Taj Palace hotel in New Delhi. The event was graced by Sh. JP Nadda, Hon’ble Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Sh. CK Mishra, Hon’ble Union Health Secretary, Mr. Henk Bekadem, WHO Representative to India, Dr. K Srinath Reddy, Chairman, Public Health Foundation of India and Dr. Tarun Seem, Mission Director, National Health Mission.

The evening witnessed our Chairman give a memorable masterclass to the winners and the audience on healthcare, the need to work collaboratively and outlined his vision for health services in India. The audience got the opportunity to ask wide-ranging questions from the architect of modern healthcare in India, to which Chairman gave his insights and thoughts.

In his keynote address, Sh. Nadda, highlighted the work being done by the Union Health Ministry and also the need to recognise the work being done for rural health in India. He lauded the efforts of Apollo and Network18 to constitute a unique set of awards for individuals and organizations working in rural India.

The Union Health Secretary, Sh. Mishra, outlined the need to work in collaboration and how India needs to recognise and encourage rural health talent.

The evening culminated with the declaration of the winners of the first edition of the ‘Healers of India’ awards, which were as follows

• Angels of Rural India
  Dr. Ashish Satav, Maharashtra
• ASHA Workers
  Winner 1
  Sushma Gope, Jharkhand
  Winner 2
  Shanti Devi, Uttarakhand
• CSR in Healthcare
  NICE Foundation
• NGO in Healthcare
  Foundation For Reproductive Health Services India, New Delhi
• Technology In Rural Healthcare
  Rural Health Care Foundation, Kolkata
• Citizen For Better Health
  Winner 1
  Lalchand Munoth, Chairman, LLM Jain Medical Care, Chennai
  Winner 2
  Indu Capoor, Founder-Director, CHETNA, Ahmedabad
• Healthy State Award
  Kerala
• Dr. Prathap C Reddy’s Selfless Service Award
  Dr. M R Rajagopal

The awards were conferred jointly by Sh. Nadda, Sh. Mishra, Chairman, Ms. Sangita Reddy and Mr. Bekadem. The awardees narrated their stories and their aspirations for the future. The winners thanked Apollo and Network18 for the recognition which they felt will encourage more people to work to improve health standards in rural India.