We are please to announce that the winner of the 2023 Dignity and Right to Health Award is Dr Johnny Oommen.
Dr Johnny, with his dedicated community service, has contributed a significant impact at both local and wider levels. His leadership empowers others in integrated community responses, facilitating church integration and participation in best practice models of care. Demonstrating excellence in full community involvement and empowerment, he is actively involved in the fight against malaria and meets the diverse needs of the community across various topics.
Working with 56 villages of which some have as minimum as 20 families and larger with 500 families in tribal areas, he recently retired from active work but remains deeply involved, witnessing improvements in community services.
The Covid pandemic was a time when many were able to participate in church service on Sunday evenings. It was during this time that many heard Dr Johnny's sharing from the Bible. Many have been inspired and assisted by these Bible studies.
Dr Johnny and his wife Mercy's walk with God and the remote community where they live have exemplified lives seeking justice and loving kindness by including the tribal community, where they live, in the solutions needed for them.
While Dr Johnny has been working with the community, his wife Mercy has been involved in training local girls in Nursing and Midwifery and together they have been inspirational in the hospital and the community through the lives they have led as well as the larger country as a whole.
Dr. Johnny recognizes and expresses the sacred nature of his work as a public health professional. He offers a real-life example of Jesus Christ as a compassionate and pain-sharing servant for the well-being of communities.
His commitment extends beyond, blending a full understanding of health with a deeper commitment to purpose and service. His dedication to improving the lives of those he reaches adds a true godly disciple attitude to his already impactful work in public health.
His calling, as he says, is to share the pain of the community God has entrusted him with and understand the lives of his people. His love for his community, his wife, and his son is already a great testimony.
