Filipino doctor Ernesto Domingo wins Asia’s Nobel Prize

Dr. Ernesto Domingo [photo viaVentura County Star]

A Filipino doctor was honored with a Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, on Wednesday.

Ernesto Domingo, a 76-year-old National Scientist, was honored for his medical work against hepatitis.

The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) said Domingo was recognized for “his exemplary embrace of the social mission of medical science and his profession, his steadfast leadership in pursuing ‘health for all’ as a shared moral responsibility of all sectors, and his groundbreaking and successful advocacy for neonatal hepatitis vaccination, thereby saving millions of lives in the Philippines.”

Aside from Domingo, also receiving Asia’s highest honor were Afghanistan’s first woman governor Habiba Sarabi and Lahpai Seng Raw from Myanmar.

The foundation also recognized two groups, Indonesia’s independent anti-corruption government body, the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), and Nepal’s Shakti Samuha, a group that campaigns against human trafficking and abuse.

The winners will receive a certificate, a medallion, and cash prizes of $50,000 each at the awarding ceremony at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on August 31.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony.

“The foundation wishes to raise awareness about the Magsaysay Award and specifically, about this year’s five awardees, who are collectively advancing causes to improve lives and transform societies across Asia,” foundation president Carmencita Abella said in a statement.