As editor-in-chief of The Lancet, Dr. Richard Horton led the charge in telling the story of COVID-19; a new virus that was rapidly killing millions and extremely difficult to contain. Dr. Horton made it his mission to encourage nations to mobilize more quickly; since then, Dr. Horton has become one of the sharpest critics of the public-health response to the pandemic in Britain, the United States, and other nations whose governments failed to trust public health experts and science.
We presented the 2021 Physicians for Human Rights Award to Dr. Richard Horton for his extraordinary leadership and advocacy on global health issues and as a leading scientific and human rights voice at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. The award was presented by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief U.S. public health officer.
As part of PHR’s 2021 celebration, Dr. Richard Horton also talked with Anna Werner of CBS News about the connection between human rights and the scientific community as well as the importance of international collaboration in vaccine rollout. “We have this terrible fracturing of the world where countries able to pay for vaccines are doing so, but not recognizing that the true solution is going to be to vaccinate all peoples of all countries. It’s very much a “me first” approach and it’s an approach that will ultimately fail.”
Miss the livestream of PHR’s 2021 gala? Watch the whole show here!