U.N. Envoy Chambers Announces First Recipient Of ‘Global Health Heroes’ Award

Announcing the first recipient of the “Global Health Heroes” award, Ray Chambers, U.N. special envoy for health financing, writes in the Huffington Post’s “Impact” blog, “As the big players in global health work to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals, it’s important to remember that every one of us has the power to touch others and save lives, whether through a simple donation or a heroic endeavor, like the story of Marie de Silva.” Chambers describes de Silva’s background and her establishment of the Jacaranda School in her native Malawi. “Today the Jacaranda School educates 430 students — all orphans — and it is the only entirely free primary and secondary school in Malawi. Its success has earned wide recognition globally, and Marie was even featured as one of the CNN Heroes,” he notes. Upon learning of her $1,000 prize, de Silva “was quick … to thank governments like the United States that have made AIDS treatment accessible and affordable for millions of Africans, including her own brother and niece who are living with AIDS today because they can now get free ARV medication in Malawi.” Chambers concludes by thanking de Silva for her work and calling for additional stories of people who “have worked to make a difference in the health of the world” (6/24).

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