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Copenhagen,
Denmark, 7th June, 2001—His
Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili
Muslims and founder of one of the largest private networks of healthcare
institutions in the developing world, this evening received the prestigious
Archon Award from the international nursing honour society, Sigma Theta
Tau International. The Award Ceremony took place as delegates from around
the world gathered in Copenhagen for the 12th International Nursing Research
Congress and the International Council of Nurses’ 22nd Quadrennial Congress.
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| His
Highness the Aga Khan receives the Archon Award from Dr. Patricia
Thompson, President of
Sigma Theta Tau International. |
The Archon Awards - from the
Greek word meaning "first to lead" - are granted biennially to individuals
who, regardless of their profession, have made health advocacy a major aspect
of their lives and whose efforts have created significant change that is
far-reaching in scope.
The Award citation highlighted
the Aga Khan's “leadership in promoting global health and
welfare and for his compassionate support of nursing and nursing research
in developing countries.”
Calling the occasion “a
unique moment – not only for nursing, but for health care,” the Society’s
President Patricia Thompson described the Aga Khan as a “remarkable
individual who during the course of his distinguished life, continues
to leave upon world health, the indelible mark of a world class leader.”
Acknowledging the honour
accorded him, the Aga Khan said that he had “long felt the
enhancement of the nursing profession to be absolutely critical to the
improvement of health care in the developing world and the Islamic world.”
He emphasised his view that “the way forward was to professionalise, to
institutionalise and to dignify” nursing in Asia and Africa.
Past recipients of the Archon
Awards have included Dr. Jonas Salk, Elizabeth Dole,
Dr. C. Everett Koop and Dame Cicely Saunders.
Sigma Theta Tau International
is a 79-year-old, quarter million-member honour society whose mission
is to improve the health of people worldwide by improving nursing scholarship.
Members include practicing nurses, instructors, researchers, policymakers,
entrepreneurs and others.
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| His
Highness the Aga Khan and Her Highness the Begum Aga Khan with President
Shamsh Kassim-Lahka
and the Rho Delta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International.
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The Aga Khan
Development Network is a group of private, international, non-denominational
agencies seeking to improve opportunities and living conditions in specific
regions of the developing world, especially in Asia and Africa. They include:
the Aga Khan Health Services, which operate more than 170
health facilities and five tertiary care hospitals; the Aga Khan
Foundation, which makes grants that promote improvements in health policies,
financing mechanisms and basic services which help communities adopt effective
health practices; and the Aga Khan University, the first
private university in Pakistan, which concentrates on research, professional
education in nursing, medicine and education, and which has begun an Advanced
Nursing Studies Programme in East Africa.
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