Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New York) – World Lung Foundation Senior Advisor Dr. Judith Mackay was awarded the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at the BMJ Group Awards in London. The BMJ Group Awards recognize and celebrate excellence in healthcare across the globe.
Dr. Mackay was honored for her contributions to international public health and tobacco control in particular. As one of the first tobacco control advocates in Asia, she has played a leading role in the region's advancements in public policy, in articulating the harms of tobacco and exposing the nefarious tactics of the tobacco industry. She was also instrumental in developing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, one of the most successful international treaties in public health.
In her current role, Dr. Mackay works with World Lung Foundation on various projects related to the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which seeks to curb disease and fatalities caused by tobacco consumption in low and middle-income countries.
“We are pleased that Dr. Judith Mackay has been recognized for her tireless campaigning to reduce the toll tobacco is taking on Asia's citizens,” said Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation. “Her work has been instrumental in establishing tobacco as a serious public health issue and catalyzing governments and civil society to take action.”
Over the course of her career, Dr. Mackay has received numerous international awards including the WHO Commemorative Medal and prizes from the British, Chinese, Hong Kong, Thai and United States governments. In May 2007, Time magazine honored her tobacco control advocacy by naming her one of its TIME 100—a list of highly influential international leaders. In 2008, she was made and OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition for her lifelong work. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Edinburgh and London.