ATLANTA, July 31,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The CDC Foundation today
announced the recipients of two esteemed awards recognizing
outstanding contributions to public health and health education.
This year's James and Sarah Fries Prize for Improving Health award
recipient is Zackie Achmat, and the 2025 Elizabeth Fries Health
Education Award recipient is Reed V.
Tuckson, MD, FACP. Both Achmat and Tuckson were chosen by
the Fries Awards Selection Jury, a panel made up of health and
public health luminaries.
The James and Sarah Fries Prize for Improving
Health recognizes an outstanding leader who has done the most
to improve health for the greatest number of people. Achmat, a
South African activist, is honored for his groundbreaking work in
increasing access to life-saving therapies for people living with
HIV/AIDS in South Africa and other
low- and middle-income countries. His efforts have led to millions
of lives saved and substantial increases in life expectancy.
The Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award recognizes a
distinguished leader who makes significant contributions to health
education and health promotion through program development or
delivery, policy, advocacy or research. Tuckson is recognized for
his substantial contribution to advancing health education and for
innovative utilization of telehealth and remote tools to enhance
local and national community engagement, making health education
more accessible for all Americans.
"Both Zackie Achmat and Reed
Tuckson exemplify the spirit of the Fries Awards through
their transformative work in public health," said Martha Katz, MPA, board chair of the James F.
and Sarah T. Fries Foundation. "Achmat's tireless advocacy has
reshaped the landscape of HIV/AIDS treatment globally, while
Tuckson's innovations in health education and communication have
expanded access to critical health information across the United States. Their contributions have
saved and improved countless lives."
In response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Achmat co-founded the
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in 1998. TAC led a robust effort to
guarantee that all South Africans in need, regardless of their
financial situation, could have anti-retroviral drugs. His
leadership has changed South
Africa's strategy for treating HIV/AIDS. Remarkably, more
South Africans are now receiving treatment than ever before,
despite the country once having one of the highest rates of HIV
infections worldwide.
Tuckson is a well-known health advocate, connector and educator
with an emphasis on tactics to enhance the health of diverse
populations and provide people with the ability to make educated
health decisions. His commitment to utilizing remote technology to
creatively unite and leverage health expertise in collaboration
with the assets of local and national community organizations has
established him as a voice for the promotion of health for all and
the improvement of health care delivery, access and education.
Achmat will be honored with the James and Sarah Fries Prize for
Improving Health award and receive a monetary award of $100,000 at the American Public Health
Association's (APHA) annual meeting taking place in
Minneapolis October 27–30, 2024.
Tuckson will be honored with the Elizabeth Fries Health Education
Award and receive a monetary award of $50,000 at the Society for Public Health
Education (SOPHE) taking place in Long Beach, CA, April 16–18, 2025.
The James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation is a nonprofit
corporation incorporated in 1991. The mission of the foundation is
to identify and honor individuals, organizations or institutions
that have made great contributions to the health of the public. The
foundation seeks to reward accomplishment rather than promise,
practicality rather than theory.
The CDC Foundation is honored to partner with the James F. and
Sarah T. Fries Foundation, which established and funds the award.
The CDC Foundation manages and administers the Fries Foundation's
public health award programs, which include the James and Sarah
Fries Prize for Improving Health and the Elizabeth Fries Health
Education Award.
About the CDC Foundation
The CDC Foundation helps the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve
lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC,
philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to
protect the health, safety and security of America and the world.
The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to
mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to
support CDC's critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the
CDC Foundation has raised over $2.2
billion and launched more than 1,400 programs impacting a
variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including
cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like
rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and
Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of CDC-led programs in
the United States and in more than
80 countries last year. Learn more at www.cdcfoundation.org.
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SOURCE CDC Foundation