| Introduction: Contextual introduction. Body: Write some achievements of Dr. Dilip Mahalanabis that saved millions of lives around the world. Conclusion: Write a way forward. |
Dr. Dilip Mahalanabis, was the epoch-making doctor, who pioneered the use of oral rehydration theory for the treatment of diarrhoeal diseases and the development of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). He was an Indian paediatrician and conducted cholera and other diarrheal illness research at the Johns Hopkins International Center for Medical Research and Training in Calcutta, India, in the middle of the 1960s.
Achievements:
- His contribution to the application of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) at the population level revolutionised the treatment of cholera and acute diarrhoeal diseases, saving thousands of lives, particularly that of children.
- Mahalanabis proved the effectiveness of ORS in cholera patients at a refugee camp in Bongaon, West Bengal, during the 1971 War.
- From 1975 to 1979, Dr Mahalanabis worked in cholera control for WHO in Afghanistan, Egypt and Yemen.
- In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, he was a medical officer in the Diarrheal Disease Control Programme of the WHO.
- In 1990, he established the Society for Applied Studies (SAS) in West Bengal with a vision of “Improved Health and Quality of Life” in India and other developing countries, especially for children and women.
- He also served as the Director of Clinical Research at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR), Bangladesh in the late 1990s.
- In 1994, Mahalanabis was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- In 2002, Dr. Mahalanabis was awarded the first Pollin Prize in Pediatric Research for their contributions to the discovery and implementation of oral rehydration therapy.
- In 2006, he was awarded the Prince Mahidol Prize, for his role in the development and application of oral rehydration therapy.
Mahalanabis was a fine doctor, a scientist, and a humble and kind human being who believed in giving back. Oral rehydration is still the mainstay of treatment for diarrhoeal diseases in children. His contributions will forever be remembered.
