PSI: News

Thai “Condom King” Receives Gates Award for Global Health

WASHINGTON, DC, May 31, 2007 — Mechai Viravaidya, a longtime member of the PSI Board of Directors, accepted the 2007 Gates Award for Global Health on behalf of The Population and Community Development Association (PDA) of Thailand, the organization he founded in 1974. For over 30 years, PDA has helped improve lives and strengthen communities in Thailand, through HIV prevention and family planning programs that have become international models.

Mechai and PDA worked closely with the Thai government to develop and implement a groundbreaking national HIV prevention program that led to a dramatic reduction in new HIV infections in Thailand, from 143,000 in 1991 to 21,000 in 2003. Because of his creative and often humorous approaches to promoting condom use, Mechai is known as Thailand’s “Condom King” and the generic word for condom in Thailand is “Mechai.”

Mechai founded PDA to provide family planning services to many rural communities that were not reached by government programs at the time. Using a nationwide network of village-based volunteers, PDA empowered women to plan their pregnancies, giving both mothers and children the opportunity to live healthier lives. PDA’s comprehensive approach to poverty reduction also addresses income generation, water resource development, sanitation projects, environmental conservation, and promotion of gender equality and democracy.

Today, PDA's 600 employees, and more than 12,000 volunteers work in 18 regional development centers and branch offices throughout Thailand. Through its international training program, PDA has trained 2,900 people from 50 countries in innovative approaches to HIV prevention, family planning, adolescent reproductive health, and other issues.

Other recent winners include The Carter Center, the African Medical and Research Foundation, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and the Brazil National AIDS Program.

Established in 2000 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Award for Global Health recognizes organizations that have made major and lasting contributions to the field of global health. The award is administered by the Global Health Council, and presented at its annual international conference in Washington. A jury of international public health experts selects the award recipient based on leadership, record of achievement, innovation in program design, program stability and sustainability, collaboration with others, and impact across geographic and organizational boundaries. The prize consists of an award sculpture and $1 million. This year, almost 100 organizations were nominated for the award.

For more information:
•	Global Health Council
•	Profile of Mechai Viravaidya

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Mechai Viravaidya, winner of the 2007 Gates Award for Global Health.