Dr. Abhay Bang

Padmashri Dr. Abhay Bang, M.D., M.PH., D. Sc (Hon.), D. Lit (Hon.), is a revolutionary public health activist and medical researcher who has dedicated his life to improving healthcare in rural India. Born and brought up in Gandhiji’s Sevagram Ashram, he absorbed principles of simplicity and service from childhood. He and his wife, Dr. Rani Bang, chose a life of service despite hailing from a privileged background, and worked with the underprivileged, following in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi’s exhortation to `go to the villages of India.’

Rejecting the idea that significant research only resides in well-equipped urban centers, he and his wife, Sapna, returned to Gadchiroli (one of India’s most neglected regions) to do community-based research where the problems were most acute. It was here that they started a tribal-friendly hospital and a holistic health programme that covered 134 villages.

It is under the visionary leadership of Dr. Bang that the Home-based Newborn Care approach was established, and was subsequently adopted by the Government of India as a National programme.

Dr. Bang and his wife were the only two Indian medical researchers to have published three original Lancet papers on independent health problems, each being a world-first. Their efforts catalysed a district-wide alcohol reform movement that helped lead to an alcohol ban and a healthier community.

Dr. Bang was awarded the Padmashri in 2018. His work has received close to 70 national and international awards, including the Maharashtra Bhushan, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins University, the Mahatma Gandhi Award and the ICMR Award. TIME Magazine named him and his wife Global Health Heroes (2005), and the WHO honoured him as the Public Health Champion (2016).

Dr. Bang, who now serves as the Chairman of the Expert Committee for Tribal Health and Advisor at both the State and National levels, leads initiatives that provide transformative change and social justice across rural India.

Dr Abhay Bang holds an M.D. in Medicine and has done his Post-graduation research at Johns Hopkins University, USA.