The award was announced by the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), which cited Kandeel’s long-standing contributions to disease prevention, health system strengthening, and public health reform.
Established in 2019 to mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela's birth, the award is presented annually to individuals whose work has had a tangible and sustained impact on improving community health outcomes.
The ministry said Kandeel led Egypt’s preventive medicine system to secure the WHO certification declaring the country free of polio, measles, rubella, trachoma, and malaria, making Egypt the first African country to eliminate malaria.
Under his leadership, Egypt also achieved control of hepatitis B among children, becoming the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to reach that target.
His record also includes advancing infection prevention and antimicrobial resistance programmes, resulting in five hospitals obtaining international accreditation, as well as contributing to the digital transformation of vaccination systems, birth and death registration, epidemiological surveillance, and quarantine services.
In addition, 129 primary healthcare units were accredited and state-funded treatment programmes were implemented in 100 health units as part of broader efforts to expand access and improve service quality, the statement said.
Kandeel is the first Egyptian to receive the award. He is due to accept it in May 2026 during the plenary session of the World Health Assembly, in the presence of the WHO director-general and a representative of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
The Nelson Mandela Award for Health Promotion is one of the WHO’s most prestigious public health honours, established in 2019 to mark the centenary of the birth of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.
The award is presented annually by the WHO to individuals whose work has produced sustained and measurable improvements in population health, particularly through prevention, equity-driven policies, and community-based health promotion.
Recipients are selected by the WHO Executive Board and formally honoured during the World Health Assembly plenary session. The criteria emphasize long-term impact, leadership in public health promotion, and contributions that advance universal access to health and reduce social and health inequalities.
Previous winners of the award have included senior public health officials, policymakers, and researchers from different regions of the world who led landmark national or regional initiatives, such as disease prevention and elimination programmes, tobacco control and non-communicable disease strategies, maternal and child health reforms, and community-centred health promotion policies.
The award is granted to a limited number of recipients each year, placing winners among a small group of internationally recognized public health leaders whose work aligns with Mandela’s legacy of social justice, human dignity, and the right to health.
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