Gandhi Memorial Lecture

Dr. Abhay Bang grew up in the Sevagram ashram of Mahatma Gandhi whose life and philosophy inspired him. He trained in medicine in India and public health at Johns Hopkins University, USA. Along with his wife Dr. Rani Bang, he founded SEARCH in Gadchiroli, developing a national and internationally recognised community health model that has influenced global health policy. His research showed how newborn care can be delivered in villages, resulting in an order of magnitude reduction in infant mortality rate. His Home-based Newborn and Child Care model was accepted for national scale up by the Govt. of India. He successfully led campaigns against alcohol and tobacco resulting in prohibition in Gadchiroli district. Among his many national and international accolades, he received the Padmashri from the Govt. of India, the Public Health Champion from the WHO and was named a global Health Hero by Time magazine. He has led multiple national
committees and developed roadmaps for health care in India.