From remote borderlands to world stage: the life-saving mission of Dr Worawit

Dr Worawit Tontiwattanasap will become the first Thai recipient of the United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize when it is awarded at the World Health Assembly in May.

Established in 1993, the prestigious award is granted by the World Health Organization only to individuals, institutions or nongovernmental organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to health development.

Previous winners include Hillary Clinton (US), Médicins Sans Frontières (France), and Dr Maria Asuncion Silvestre (Philippines).

“Members of the selection panel unanimously named Dr Worawit as the 2026 award winner,” said Dr Pongsadhorn Pokpermdee, vice-chair of the WHO Executive Board and director-general of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine.

Dr Worawit, the director of Umphang Hospital in Thailand’s border province of Tak, was recognized for “upholding humanitarian principles in public health throughout his decades of service in one of Thailand's most remote and geographically challenging areas”.

Worawit has launched several projects to fill gaps in medical care for displaced and stateless populations, including cross-border clinics, malaria and tuberculosis screening and treatment, and dialysis services.

To sustain these programmes, he has introduced management innovations such as solar panel installations to lower costs, a platform for medicine donations, and training for borderless health volunteers.

Worawit, 58, will accept the award at a ceremony attended by public health ministers and representatives from 194 countries. In addition to a certificate of honour and a plaque, he will also receive US$40,000.

Man of virtue

After graduating from Srinakharinwirot University’s Faculty of Medicine in 1991, Worawit was posted to Umphang Hospital while still in his 20s.

One of Thailand’s remotest and inaccessible districts, Umphang is home to a large population of Karen hilltribe people, including both indigenous residents and those displaced by conflict across the border in Myanmar. Here, he discovered the calling that would define his life’s work over the next few decades.

“When I was still new to the area, a woman was airlifted to the hospital with a gunshot wound that had left a fist-sized hole in her leg,” Worawit recalled.

“I spent at least an hour treating her wound every day for about three months. She was later referred to a better-equipped hospital for skin-graft surgery.

“Two years later, while travelling with a mobile medical unit to a remote rural area, I saw her again. She was alive and well; the moment I saw her, I was filled with happiness.”

It is life-changing interventions like this that inspired his lifelong commitment to helping others.

Dr Nuttagarn Chuenchom, a former medic at Umphang Hospital, said Worawit deserved the highest awards for his selfless contributions and effective service to those in need.

“He’s a devoted doctor. He puts patients’ interests first and never discriminates in his treatment,” the younger doctor said, describing her time under Worawit’s guidance.

She said Worawit also spends a large portion of his salary to pay school fees for children of impoverished hilltribe children or hospital staff. Some of the beneficiaries have become nurses and medics, following in his footsteps by serving the local population.

Worawit is known for living a simple life, buying little for himself beyond daily necessities while insisting on paying full tax in the knowledge that its helps finance public services.

When staff grumble about blankets going missing from his hospital, he explains that impoverished patients may need protection from the cold at home. When patients ask for more food for themselves or their family members, he makes sure they receive it.

“He is simply a legend,” Nuttagarn said.

Long list of accolades

Worawit has received recognition before for his commitment to humanitarian healthcare, including being named an outstanding doctor by Thailand’s Medical Council in 2022.

But he prefers to shift the attention away from himself. “I am not extraordinary. I am just happy to work and use my knowledge to serve others,” he said.