Paean for Poonawalla

"What most distinguishes the Serum Institute of India (SII) is the philanthropy that imbues the very heart of your business. Motivated by the desire to maximize public health over profits, the SII donates or sells vaccines precisely where they are needed most, at a fraction of market prices. Your philanthropic commitment, however, broadens for the benefit of even more people in need: hospitals, schools, public parks and India’s environment are better for your attention and investment.” So read a citation presented to businessman, philanthropist and founder-chairman of SII Dr Cyrus Poonawalla by the University of Massachusetts Medical School that conferred on him a degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa on June 3, 2018 in Worscester.
Calling SII’s impact on public health around the globe "astounding,” the citation recognized the company’s creation of 1.5 billion doses of vaccine each year — more than any other manufacturer in the world, and its distribution in nearly 150 countries. "You nurture partnerships that amplify the good you bring to the world. Always seeking to advance vaccine science and develop much-needed treatments, you reached across the globe to partner with MassBiologics of our medical school,” read the citation. The collaboration has "resulted in the recent launch of a novel rabies treatment, RabiShield (the first ever rabies human monoclonal antibody)” which, it is believed will save some of the 50,000 lives lost each year to this virulent disease.

Previous awardees of the degree include past US president Barack Obaman (2006), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr Anthony Fauci (2008), and Liberian president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2012).
The first Indian to be conferred with the honorary degree, Poonwalla told the mid-day of June 7 that "we’re being recognized because we’ve singlehandedly saved more than 20 million children in India over the past 30 years through vaccination… We need to treat the field of vaccination with the respect it deserves… (We) need more precautionary measures than cures for the betterment of human life.” The Times of India of June 7 noted that SII will soon introduce a pneumonia vaccine that will cost Rs 300 per dose as against its present rate of Rs 4,000, and a vaccine and cure for dengue.
Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of SII told The Indian Express of June 5 that they "were extremely proud of his contribution to humanity, specially in saving children’s lives in the past four decades.”