Recently, MAP International presented the Bill Foege Global Health Awards to Kidneys for Communities’ CEO, Atul Agnihotri, and the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD) in recognition of the team’s work on the first-ever kidney exchange between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The historical paired kidney exchange between Israel and an Arab state led to a series of kidney transplants that saved the lives of three women in the two countries. 

The Bill Foege Global Health Awards recognize those who make substantial contributions to the progress of global health and are given in honor of Dr. Bill Foege, who helped save millions of lives globally by eradicating smallpox.  

Atul and APKD join fellow 2022 award recipients Dr. Helene Gayle and Dr. James Curran and past recipients Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Katalin Karikó, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ted Turner, Ambassador Andrew Young, Dr. Carlos Del Rio, the CDC and all frontline health care workers in being recognized for their substantial contributions to the progress of global health measures.

Kidneys for Communities promotes innovation and collaboration, and our team looks forward to continuing its work with the global health community to increase the living kidney donor pool and help solve the global kidney shortage. 

As William H. Foege, MD, MPH, once said, “We must keep promoting the idea of global citizenship to erase the divisions between nations, cultures, religions and races.”