Build Health International is thrilled to announce Dr. Jim Yong Kim as the inaugural winner of the BHI Global Health Infrastructure Award, to be bestowed at a ceremony in Boston in November.
“As co-founder of Partners In Health and the first physician to lead the World Bank, Dr. Yong Kim has made incredible contributions to the field of health systems and infrastructure,” said Jim Ansara, co-founder and managing director of Build Health International. “He worked in places like Haiti and Peru fighting outbreaks of HIV-AIDS and MDR-TB, and he used this experience to drive transformative policy changes and resource mobilization.”
BHI announced the creation of the Global Health Infrastructure Award this past week over its social media channels.
“We launched the GHIA to draw attention to the importance of medical infrastructure in low-resource settings,” said Omar Hernandez, BHI’s Chief Operating Officer. “As the U.S. and Europe pull back funding for healthcare around the world, these countries need to leverage their existing health care infrastructure, and they need all the help they can get. We hope this award will inspire people to pay attention, advocate for renewed support, and mobilize resources to sustain, upgrade and maintain these important facilities all over the world.”
About Dr. Jim Yong Kim
Dr. Jim Yong Kim is an American physician and anthropologist who served as president of the World Bank from 2012 to 2019. Before that role, he chaired the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founded Partners In Health. He was president of Dartmouth College from 2009 to 2012. Currently, he serves as Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor at BlackRock, a fund that invests in infrastructure projects across various global sectors.
About the Global Health Infrastructure Award
Access to dignified, affordable, and high-quality healthcare remains out of reach for many communities. Build Health International’s Global Health Infrastructure Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to the planning, financing and building of healthcare systems and infrastructure in resource-constrained communities around the world.