In December, 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the establishment of the Gates Award for Global Health in the amount of $1 million. This annual award has been established to recognize an organization that has made a major and lasting contribution to the field of global health.

The Gates Award for Global Health was established by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reward and exemplify organizations which have developed processes for improving health, especially in resource poor settings, with measurable results. The Award recognizes past achievements and the promise of continuing activity and improvement.

Any organization from any country in the world that has substantively improved the health and the lives of people in need may be nominated for the Gates Award; the organization may be a charitable institution, a private company, or a public entity.

Nominations will be considered by a jury consisting of health professionals from developing countries as well as the Global Health Council's Board of Directors. A winner will be selected by the jury from the nominations submitted. The list of jury members will be publicized once it is in place.

The award will be presented on June 1, 2006 in Washington, D.C., at a special Awards Ceremony during the Global Health Council's Annual International Conference.

The 2007 conference online nomination form for the Gates Award is available by clicking here.