Nominate Now: 2026 WHO South-East Asia Public Health Champion Award

The World Health Organization is now accepting nominations for the 2026 WHO South-East Asia Public Health Champion Award. This accolade highlights individuals, teams and organizations across the South-East Asia Region whose leadership, ingenuity and measurable results have advanced public health. Entries should reflect work that improves population health and aligns with WHO priorities-such as disease prevention, stronger health systems, emergency readiness and progress toward universal health coverage.

Why the Award Is Timely

The South-East Asia Region-home to roughly 1.9 billion people, about one-quarter of the global population-is consolidating lessons from recent emergencies to create more resilient, equitable health systems. The 2026 cycle prioritizes initiatives that translate pandemic-era experience into long-term gains: reinforced surveillance, pandemic-ready primary health care, inclusive digital health services and clear, community-centered risk communication. Recognizing high-impact models accelerates uptake of practices that protect marginalized populations and contribute to Sustainable Development Goal targets.

Who Should Be Put Forward-and Who Can Nominate

A broad range of stakeholders may submit nominations on behalf of eligible candidates. Nominators include government health units, universities and research centres, civil society and community-based groups, professional associations, and private-sector partners engaged in public health. Eligible nominees include individual leaders, grassroots collectives and institutional teams from across the South-East Asia Region whose work resulted in documented improvements in access, quality or equity of health services.

Suggested Nominators

• National or subnational health departments and program divisions
• Academic institutions, public health schools and research organizations
• Non-governmental organizations and community networks
• Professional bodies and networks of health workers
• Social enterprises and private-sector collaborators with public health impact

Types of Projects Sought

The Award looks for initiatives with clear evidence of impact, potential for replication or scale, and meaningful partnership across sectors. Priority will be given to programs that maintained essential services during crises while introducing innovations in areas such as mental health, catch-up immunization, inclusion of marginalized groups and climate-resilient care.

Priority Intervention Areas

• Community-based surveillance: locally led systems that improved early detection and accelerated response to outbreaks.
• Primary care innovations: adaptations like revised outreach schedules, task-sharing, or mobile health outreach that preserved service continuity under restrictions.
• Digital health and data solutions: platforms or tools that supported near real-time decisions, equity monitoring, contactless service delivery or teleconsultations.
• Risk communication and behaviour change: campaigns that effectively reduced misinformation, built vaccine confidence and increased uptake of preventive actions.
• Workforce support and retention: models that protected, trained and sustained frontline health workers in high-stress contexts.

Concrete Impact Examples

Submissions should include verifiable outcomes. Illustrative results that strengthen a nomination include:

• High continuity of essential primary care services during shocks and lockdowns.
• Documented narrowing of service gaps for remote, marginalized or high-risk groups.
• Use of near real-time local data to drive policy or operational decisions.
• Established community emergency preparedness plans and rapid-response mechanisms.

Frontline Solutions WHO Wants to Elevate

WHO especially encourages nominations of initiatives designed and delivered close to populations at highest risk-examples include programs run in informal urban settlements, border zones, small island communities, mountainous districts and conflict-affected areas. These frontline efforts often operate with limited resources yet produce lessons and models highly relevant to regional policy and practice.

New Illustrative Case Studies

• A riverine vaccination caravan that uses modified boats to reach seasonal inland fishing communities, delivering childhood immunizations and maternal care during monsoon months.
• An SMS- and voice-based maternal health appointment-reminder system that increased antenatal visit completion among women in peri-urban slums.
• A community-run emergency transport network using locally fabricated stretchers and volunteer drivers to reduce delays in accessing obstetric care in remote hill districts.
• A municipal-civil society partnership that retrofitted primary clinics with low-cost cold-chain solutions powered by microgrids to preserve vaccines during power outages.
• An inclusive telehealth service co-designed with disability advocacy groups to make remote consultations accessible to people with vision, hearing or cognitive impairments.

Selection Priorities and Supporting Evidence

Strong nominations clearly document impact and explain pathways to sustainability and scale. Recommended evidence includes:

• Quantitative and qualitative impact data (service coverage figures, before-and-after comparisons, case studies, beneficiary feedback).
• Evidence of scalability or steps taken toward replication in other districts or countries.
• Descriptions of cross-sector partnerships that enhanced effectiveness or reach.
• Equity analyses showing how the intervention reduced disparities for vulnerable groups.
• Adaptations made for climate-sensitive health risks or other emerging threats.

How to Prepare a Competitive Nomination

When preparing submissions, nominators should:

• Summarize the problem addressed and the intervention in plain language.
• Provide clear outcome metrics and supporting documents (reports, evaluations, press coverage, beneficiary testimonials).
• Explain the replication potential and any plans or efforts to scale.
• List partners and describe their roles to highlight multisectoral collaboration.
• Include contact details for verification and any multimedia that illustrates the work (photos, short videos).

Submission Process and Timeline

Nominations must be submitted through the official WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) channels. Consult the WHO SEARO website for full eligibility criteria, submission templates and deadlines. Shortlisted candidates may be invited to provide additional evidence or participate in interviews. Awardees will be announced and celebrated at regional events in 2026, and their approaches will be showcased as practical models for adoption across the Region.

Final Note

The 2026 WHO South-East Asia Public Health Champion Award offers a platform to elevate transformative leaders and programs that accelerate universal health coverage, reinforce primary health care, expand inclusive digital health, and strengthen preparedness for climate-sensitive and emerging health threats. Stakeholders across the Region are urged to identify, document and nominate outstanding actors whose innovations have measurably improved health equity and system resilience.

For complete guidance on eligibility, timelines and submission instructions, visit the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office website and submit your nomination before the stated deadline.