Thailand’s Rural Doctors Movement wins Magsaysay award for public health role

The Rural Doctors Movement (RDM) has won the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award for its long and continuing contribution to Thai people’s health.

The board of trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced on Saturday that the RDM was among five awardees this year – the four others are individuals from Bhutan, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam.

The RDM are being recognised for “their historic and continuing contribution to their people’s health — and perhaps just as importantly, to their recognition and fulfilment as citizens with basic rights. By championing the rural poor, the movement made sure to leave no one behind as the nation marches forward to greater economic prosperity and modernisation”.

In its citation for the award, the foundation said the RDM, a combination of the Rural Doctor Society (RDS) and the Rural Doctor Foundation (RDF), was credited for the universal health coverage, which remains an elusive dream in many other countries.

The citation noted that the UHC was implemented in 2002 in Thailand because of the struggle of the RDM.

“The impact of the movement on Thai society is clear, palpable, and enduring. Thailand’s rural doctors have demonstrated how vital adequate and affordable healthcare is to social justice, how necessary democracy is in creating the best environment for positive social change, and how the spirit of volunteerism can achieve superlative results,” the citation added.

“In electing the Rural Doctors Movement to receive the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognises their historic and continuing contribution to their people’s health — and perhaps just as importantly, to their recognition and fulfilment as citizens with basic rights. By championing the rural poor, the movement made sure to leave no one behind as the nation marches forward to greater economic prosperity and modernisation,” the foundation said.

The RDS was established on April 25 ,1976, and the RDF on March 15, 1982.

Other 2024 Magsaysay awardees are:

— Karma Phuntsho from Bhutan. He is being recognised for “his invaluable and enduring contributions towards harmonising the richness of his country’s past with the diverse predicaments and prospects of its present, inspiring young Bhutanese to be proud of their heritage and confident in their future”.

— Miyazaki Hayao from Japan. He is being recognised for “his lifelong commitment to the use of art, specifically animation, to illuminate the human condition, especially lauding his devotion to children as the torchbearers of the imagination, to whom he has passed the light and spark of his own”.

— Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong from Vietnam. She is being recognised for “her spirit of public service and the message of hope she continues to propagate among her people. At the same time, her work serves as a dire warning to the world to avoid war at all costs as its tragic repercussions can reach far into the future”.

— Farwiza Farhan from Indonesia. She is being recognised for Emergent Leadership for “her profound understanding of the vital connection between nature and humanity, her commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship through her work with forest communities, and her promotion of greater awareness of the need to protect the beating heart and lungs of her country’s and Asia’s rich but endangered natural resources”.

The formal conferment of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards is on Saturday, November 16, at 4.30pm Manila time at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila. The ceremony will be streamed live on the foundation’s official Facebook page and YouTube channel.