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Together with Antony Fauci, South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim has won the prestigious 2020 John Maddox Award for “going beyond the line of duty.”
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, specialist in infectious diseases. Image: @ UKZN / Twitter.
JOHANNESBURG – South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim has been announced as the joint winner of the John Maddox Prize for 2020.
Along with Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States, Karim was on Monday “recognized for going beyond the line of duty as government health advisers.” Karim is advising the government on its response to COVID-19.
In a statement issued by the Sense about Science charity and the scientific journal Nature, the two were recognized for their contribution to understanding the global pandemic.
“They communicated the complex and changing science of COVID-19 to the public and policymakers, amid international uncertainty and anxiety,” the statement read.
Speaking about Karim, the statement read: “He has a reputation for clear and honest communication, something that has allowed him to build public trust in fast-moving science. Respected for his advocacy of international science, engagement with the media and the public. it has become integral to his role as a scientist. “
Abdool Karim is also director of the Center for AIDS Research Program in South Africa.
The judges also praised Wuhan General Hospital doctors Ai Fen and Li Wenliang.
“These doctors from Wuhan General Hospital went out of their way to communicate their concerns about the presence of a novel coronavirus, particularly when considering the positions they were in and the consequences they would likely face. They feel that both doctors require recognition for this. effort., Ai Fen for having initiated communication with his colleagues and therefore ‘distributing the whistles’ and the efforts of Li Wenliangs, while he was dying of COVID-19, to communicate to the world his treatment and suppression “, it reads in the statement.
The John Maddox Award recognizes the work of people around the world who advance science on a matter of public concern, who face difficulties or hostility in doing so. Past winners include Bambang Hero Saharjo (2019), Olivier Bernard (2019), Professor Terry Hughes (2018), Britt Hermes (2018), Dr Riko Muranaka (2017), Professor Elizabeth Loftus (2016), Professor Edzard Ernst, Professor Susan Jebb (2015); Dr. Emily Willingham, Dr. David Robert Grimes (2014); Professor David Nutt (2013); and Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Shi-min Fang (2012).
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