Re: Ensuring the fair administration of the Kochon Prize
On June 19, 2014 the Global TB Community Advisory Board (TB CAB) sent an open letter to Kochon Foundation, Stop TB Partnership and Kochon Prize Selection Committee encouraging the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board to ensure that the 2014 Kochon Prize and all future prizes are awarded fairly based on merit.
The letter notes that the 2013 Kochon Prize was disappointedly not given to the Selection Committee’s original recommendation. The World Health Organization overrode the Selection Committee’s decision, intruding in what should be an independent decision-making process, letting politics influence decisions in public health.
The letter urges the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board to preserve the admirable vision of the Kochon Prize, which is to award individuals or organizations “that have made a significant contribution to combating TB” and to safeguard the Kochon Prize’s long-standing precedent of rewarding to the most deserving candidate.
You can download the open letter from here.