Community Service Award

V. G. Mohan Prasad, MD

V . G . Mohan Prasad, MD, from India, a gastroenterologist of 34 years of service, has served as a National President of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology and Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopists of India . He is currently the Chairman and Chief Gastroenterologist of the VGM Hospital – Institute of Gastroenterology in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India . He served as an Adjunct Professor for the same University for 5 years, and presently he is an Advisory Member of the National Board of Examinations, Government of India . Dr . Prasad is the inventor of Endoscopic Collagen Spray for hemostasis of GI Bleeds and healing of ulcers for which he was conferred an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Edinburgh, UK . He is a two-time winner of the Guinness World Record for creating Hepatitis Awareness on World Hepatitis Day 2012 with 3,500 children and 2013 with 13,522 children under one roof .

In 1998, as Deputy Governor for Rotary District 3200, he launched a Hepatitis B vaccination project for children of twelve districts to vaccinate 100,000 children, requiring 300,000 doses of vaccines . The cost of a Hepatitis B vaccine was unaffordable for the masses . Dr . Prasad personally negotiated with the Chairman of Shanta Biotechnique and reduced the cost of a pediatric dose from $10 to .90¢ US per dose, forcing all companies in India to reduce the HB vaccine cost to .90¢ US per dose . This project was successfully completed with 1 million doses . While the prevalence of HCV in India is 1%, the prevalence in the 21 villages of Annur is 10 to 13% . Seventy free screening camps for HBV and HCV have been done and for 700 patients, free eradication of HCV was carried out . The town of Udumalpet in South India with a population of 100,000 was devoid of Blood Banks . Saving the lives of bleeders was close to impossible . Dr . Prasad initiated a Rotary Matching Grant Project with the US and India . In 1999, IMA Rotary Blood Bank was inaugurated at Udumalpet . Even in 2021 it is the solo Blood Bank at Udumalpet catering to a population of 200,000 (More than 100,000 units of blood have been given at an affordable cost) . Dr . Prasad is a Major Donor to The Rotary Foundation, US for Global Polio Eradication Initiative . He formed a charitable AAGG TRUST and donated a Wedding Hall whose income since 1985 goes for education and health care expenditure of the needy with a free clinic at Udumalpet treating 35,000 patients (1990 – 2005) and a Free Liver Wellness Clinic for the poor at Coimbatore, since 2015 . Dr Prasad also started the VGM Foundation, which organizes web lectures for doctors and lay public in addition to a monthly teaching program for the postgraduates in Gastroenterology namely ‘SAGE’ since January 2021 . In January 2021 he published a 400-page textbook on APD .  The Community Service Award is bestowed upon an ACG Member who has initiated or has been involved in volunteer programs or has provided extensive volunteer service posttraining . The service must have been performed on a completely voluntary basis and not for the completion of training or position requirements . Such service may include but is not limited to the following: community education programs (e .g ., colon cancer awareness); working in free clinics; mentoring advocacy groups or local government committees; teaching in underserved schools related to health education; and political work on committees for comprehensive health insurance or other issues .