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Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize take place in Manila

1 December 2022
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2022-12-01 16:20

Four people were honoured at this year's Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel Prize. The annual awards are named after a Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash, and honour “greatness of spirit in selfless service to the peoples of Asia".

This year’s awardees include Cambodian Sotheara Chhim, who led the treatment of thousands of traumatised survivors of the Khmer Rouge's rule and other patients in his country since becoming executive director of its Transcultural Psychosocial Organization in 2002.

Japanese ophthalmologist Tadashi Hattori was awarded the prize for training local doctors who have treated thousands of Vietnamese. Gary Bencheghib from France was awarded for his work against plastic pollution on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Philippine pediatrician Bernadette Madrid was also awarded for her work in leading the country’s first child protection center at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

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