The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Surgical oncologist Ravi Kannan R. who heads the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Assam has been named one of the recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2023.
The annual awards, named after former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay, are called ‘Asia’s Nobel prize’ and are considered very prestigious. Earlier recipients from India include Satyajit Ray, Bezwada Wilson and Ravish Kumar, among others.
Other recipients this time are Bangladeshi educationist Korvi Rakshand, Timorese environmentalist Eugenio Lemos, and Filipino peace negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferrer.
The citation for the award noted Kannan’s incredible contributions to healthcare. It noted that in “forgotten” places like the northeast of India, where healthcare is often difficult or expensive to access, cancer is all the more emotionally and financially devastating for patients and their families.
Assam’s first cancer hospital was not opened until 1981, and the second, the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (CCHRC) was established in 1996. The citation notes that it was the initiative of a non-profit society of local citizens, funded by public philanthropy on land provided by government.
Once Kannan took over as its director in 2007, CCHRC grew into an “innovative, widely admired, full-service cancer care facility,” the award’s citation says.
“It surprised many that Kannan, who previously headed the surgical oncology department in Adyar Cancer Institute, a major cancer institute in Chennai, would exchange a position in a big city for a small hospital in a remote part of the country. Kannan had a simple answer. It was where he was most needed.”
Kannan’s leadership led to CCHRC getting 28 departments covering oncology, pathology, radiology, microbiology, epidemiology, tumour registry and palliative care, and other services and specialisations. From a staff of only twenty-three, the hospital now employs 451 people, the award’s citation says.
It also includes the essential ways in which Kannan sought to ensure care reached he poor, who would often have to travel long distances for it.
“Thus, the hospital introduced such pro-poor initiatives as free treatment, food and lodging, adhoc employment for caregivers, and a homecare program. Hospital team members would travel long distances to train family members in pain management and palliative care, as well as provide free medicines. As a result, patient compliance rates rose to 70%.”
The CCHRC also provides free or subsidised cancer care treatments to an average of 5,000 new patients annually, catering to approximately 20,000 poor patients for treatments and follow-ups.
PTI also reports that satellite clinics have been started in Karimganj, Hailakandi, and Dima Hasao districts.
Finally, the citation notes, “In electing Ravi Kannan R. to receive the 2023 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his devotion to his profession’s highest ideals of public service, his combination of skill, commitment, and compassion in pushing the boundaries of people-centered, pro-poor health care and cancer care, and for having built, without expectation of reward, a beacon of hope for millions in the Indian state of Assam, thus setting a shining example for all.”