For The 10th Consecutive Year, the Carlos Slim Health Awards Were Delivered

For the 10^th consecutive year, the delivery ceremony of the Carlos Slim Health Awards was health at the Soumaya Museum. The awards were delivered from the hands of the Minister of Health, Dr. Jose Narro Robles; the General Director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Mikel Arriola; Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Dr. Enrique Graue Wiechers, and Carlos Slim Helu.

Marco Antonio Slim Domit said these awards are already a reference in Latin America, to recognize and promote high-impact work in benefit of the health of the population.

On this occasion, the independent jury examined 86 proposals from 15 countries. The 2017 winners elected by this collegial body are:

Exceptional institution – Central American Network of People with HIV (Red Centroamericana de Personas con VIH, REDCA+), a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 in El Salvador, which work has contributed to care, make visible and give a voice to the population with HIV in Central America; as well as to reduce the spread HIV/AIDS and promote universal access to treatment for those in need in the region.

Research Trajectory – Jose Sifuentes Osornio, of Mexico, whose area of research focuses on tuberculosis and its interaction with other diseases such as diabetes and HIV. His contributions have improved the care conditions of patients with tuberculosis, modifying their treatment in Latin America, and achieving an important impact on public health.

In addition to the recognition and prestige represented by these awards, Carlos Slim Foundation provides an economic contribution of 100,000 dollars to each of both categories, to encourage the continuity of the extraordinary work performed by the winners, at institutional and individual levels.

As part of the 10^th anniversary, Dr. Roberto Tapia-Conyer, General Director of Carlos Slim Foundation, presented six Special Recognitions for institutions that have distinguished for their work in partnership with the Foundation to achieve successful progress in various social initiatives. Dr. Tapia-Conyer stressed that the Foundation’s achievements would not be possible without the partnerships established with public, private and academic institutions, researchers and all those people who dedicate their lives to work for the health and welfare of others.

The Special Recognitions for their work in partnership with the Foundation were awarded to:

Eric Lander, one of the leading geneticists worldwide; founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, with whom the Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine is develoed.
Emma Iriarte, leading health specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Panama, and executive secretary of the Mesoamerican Health Initiative.
Peter Hotez, founder and director of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, who is working on the development of a vaccine against Chagas disease.
The Carter Center, for their work in partnership for the elimination of onchocerciasis in the Americas.
Ministry of Health of Mexico, for the various projects in primary care, diabetes, maternal and child health, immunization and transplantation.
National Autonomous University of Mexico, academic institution that provides validation and endorsement of courses and diplomas contained in the PIEENSO platform, and for computer systems development and working with the migrant population.

Marco Antonio Slim said that “through the different programs and the broad collaborations, since 1986 in the Carlos Slim Foundation, we work tirelessly to create solutions for the problems, turning ideas into effective, sustainable and replicable innovations, in order to meet the needs of those most in need.”

The ceremony was attended by winners of the previous Health Awards editions, and former Ministers of Health, representatives of international organizations such as UNICEF and the Inter-American Development Bank, and other leading figures from the academy and health sectors.