On 1 April 2019, H.E. Mr. Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to Sweden, hosted a luncheon at the Thai Ambassador’s Residence in honour of Professor Jan R. Holmgren, Director of the Gothenburg University Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX) and the Prince Mahidol Award Laureate in 2018 in the field of Public Health.

Distinguished guests in attendance on this special occasion comprised representatives from the Parliament of Sweden, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Honorary Consul of Thailand to Gothenburg, as well as a Thai doctor undertaking research in Sweden under scholarship from Prince Mahidol Award Youth Program, and Team Thailand in Sweden.

On this occasion, Ambassador Soonthorn delivered welcome remarks and congratulated Professor Jan R. Holmgren on his receiving the award as well as praised him on his devotion and outstanding research collaboration with Professor John D. Clemens from the United States of America in developing oral cholera vaccine which has significantly prevented the spread of cholera and helped save the lives of millions of people around the world.

The Prince Mahidol Award, under the Royal Patronage, was established in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of His Royal Highness Prince Songkla, on 1 January 1992, the Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of the country who made tremendous contributions to modernising Thailand’s health and medical care