OCTOBER , 2022 | THE HEALTH

MINISTRY of Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was awarded the 2021 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh ’ s ( RCSEd ) International Medal in recognition of his contributions to surgery in Malaysia .

He received the medal from RCSEd President Professor Michael Griffin at a dinner at the college in Edinburgh recently to welcome their honorary fellow , Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Almarhum Tuanku Munawir , who is also the Royal Chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia . Accompanying him was Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud .

Griffin said it was a well-deserved medal for Dr Noor Hisham ’ s outstanding services in the field of surgical care .

“ This award represents the culmination of hard work , dedication , and sacrifice from Dr Noor Hisham , who has made such a difference to the lives of patients in Malaysia .”

Dr Noor Hisham , who received the prestigious Fellowship Ad Hominem of the RCSEd in 2018 , said he was honoured to receive the recognition . He hoped Malaysia would be a model for other countries in training experts to help surgeries in rural areas .

“ Our country is championing the cause of global surgery , and we have adopted and embraced creative ideas and innovation to increase the quality of surgery in our country as well as to provide surgery in rural areas .

“ This collaboration has improved and increased the capacity of our country . Our

From left - RCSEd President Professor Michael Griffin , Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Almarhum Tuanku Munawir and Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah .

PIC CREDIT NST

country has become a role model for lower middle-income countries ,” said Dr Noor Hisham after receiving the award .

King congratulates Dr Noor Hisham

He added : “ Our Health Minister has been appointed as vice-president of the World Health Assembly and the first Vice-Chair of its Executive Board and we can actually push this agenda of global surgery to increase the quality of care in terms of affordability , access and equity of global surgery to lower middle-income countries . “ If you look into the data , 30 per cent the global disease burden is surgical-based . Therefore , it is important for the World Health Organisation to focus on global surgery to improve the quality of care particularly in lower middle-income countries ,” he said .

Meanwhile , Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri ’ ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah extended their congratulations to Dr Noor Hisham .

Istana Negara in a post on its Facebook said Their Majesties expressed joy and pride on the conferment of the honour , which at the same time boosted Malaysia ’ s name on the world stage .

“ The award proves that Malaysia is capable of producing individuals of quality , calibre and international standard ,” the post said .

Their Majesties also expressed their best wishes to Dr Noor Hisham and prayed that he would be blessed with continued excellence . – The Health

SWEDISH scientist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries “ concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution ”, the award-giving body said on Oct 3

The prize , arguably among the most prestigious in the scientific world , is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden ’ s Karolinska Institute and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ( US $ 900,357 ). It is the first of this year ’ s batch of prizes .

“ He was overwhelmed , he was speechless . Very happy ,” said Thomas Perlmann , secretary for the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine , who called Paabo with the news , according to Reuters .

Paabo , son of the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Sune Bergström , has been credited with transforming the study of human origins after developing approaches to allow for the examination of DNA sequences from archaeological and paleontological remains .

His key achievements include sequencing an entire Neanderthal genome to reveal the link between extinct people and modern humans .

He also brought to light the existence of a previously unknown human species called the Denisovans , from a 40,000-year-old fragment of a finger bone discovered in Siberia .

Created in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy businessman Alfred Nobel , the prizes for achievements in science , literature and peace have been awarded since 1901 , though the economics prize is a later addition .

Packed field of contenders

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed medical research centre stage with many expecting that the development of the vaccines that have allowed the world to regain some sense of normality may eventually be rewarded .

Still , it typically takes many years for any given research to be honoured , with the committees charged with picking the winners looking to determine its full value with some certainty amongst what is always a packed field of contenders .

When asked why the prize was not awarded to advances in combating Covid , Perlmann said it was a good question he was not going to answer .

“ We only talk about people who are getting the Nobel Prize and not those who are not receiving or not received them yet .”

Paabo ’ s most cited paper in the Web of Science was published in 1989 , with 4,077 citations , said David Pendlebury , from UK-based scientific data analytics provider Clarivate .

“ Only some 2,000 papers out of 55 million published since 1970 have been cited this many times .”

This year ’ s festivities should in any case mark the return of the Nobel banquet in Stockholm after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic , an event redolent of old-world pomp and glamour after years of social distancing .

Past winners in the field include a string of famous researchers , notably Alexander Fleming , who shared the 1945 prize for the discovery of penicillin , and Robert Koch , who won already in 1905 for his investigations of tuberculosis . – The Health

Send subscription to Revon Media Sdn Bhd Revongen Corporation Centre Level 17 , Top Glove Tower , No . 16 , Persiaran Setia Dagang , Setia Alam , Seksyen U13 , 40170 Shah Alam , Selangor Darul Ehsan , Malaysia .

Tel : + 6 03 3359 1166 Fax : + 6 03 3358 0303 Email : subscription @ revonmedia . com