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2025 Else Kröner Fresenius Award for Development Cooperation in Medicine for Dipanwita Sarkar and the NGO ASHA, supported by German Doctors e. V.
Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, October 13, 2025 – Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) confers 2025 Else Kröner Fresenius Award for Development Cooperation in Medicine to Indian project coordinator Dipanwita Sarkar from the Dearah Association for Social and Humanitarian Action (ASHA NGO). She established the project “Empowering Communities towards Health Orientation” together with German Doctors e. V. The aim is to improve basic healthcare in the Sundarbans, which is one of the poorest and most remote regions of India, with the help of mobile clinics, trained health workers, and extensive outreach work. This year, the award endowed with €100,000 honors outstanding achievements in the field of “mobile clinics” and will be conferred during a ceremony at the Auditorium Friedrichstraße in Berlin on October 14.
The award-winning project is set to run for seven years, from 2021 until 2028. Responsibility is to gradually be handed over to a local team from 2026. At the same time, the project is to increasingly be integrated into public health structures. The prize money serves to ensure the project can be continued in the long run and its achievements to date built on. “With this award, we recognize an outstanding project that ensures sustainable healthcare in one of the most remote regions of the world,” says Dr. Jochen Bitzer, who is responsible for humanitarian funding at the EKFS.
Mobile clinics for remote villages
The Sundarbans situated in West Bengal in the east of India are considered an idyllic natural haven. However, the living conditions of the local population are marred by poverty, poor infrastructure, and frequent natural disasters. Many villages can only be accessed by boat and public health services are virtually non-existent.
This is exactly where the award-winning project comes in: Mobile clinics allow around 26,000 patients in 49 villages to receive medical treatment every year. The team includes local doctors, volunteer German Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, and 156 Community Health Volunteers (CHVs), who are based in the communities. They provide first aid, monitor patients with chronic illnesses, and accompany people to public health facilities.
Partnership with German Doctors e. V.
German Doctors is a crucial partner in the project: It developed and set the initiative up together with ASHA and also nominated it for the 2025 Else Kröner Fresenius Award for Development Cooperation in Medicine. Volunteer doctors from Germany regularly support the team in the field for several weeks at a time. “The mobile clinics are essential as they allow patients with chronic illnesses to receive continuous care directly in their community. This helps to prevent complications,” explains Dr. Sarah Hofmann, a volunteer with German Doctors. In addition to providing medical care, training the CHVs also contributes to healthcare provision in the long term. “They are not just everyday helpers, but also role models for their communities,” says Hofmann.
Spokesperson for the project
Project coordinator Dipanwita Sarkar was instrumental in development of the program and now oversees its implementation. Focusing on health, education, women’s empowerment, and child protection, she particularly supports girls and women. “We must encourage them to speak up, to act with confidence, and to say no when they find themselves in difficult situations,” emphasizes Sarkar. All of the CHVs are women and are held in high regard in their communities.
Award ceremony in Berlin
The award will be conferred in Berlin on October 14, 2025. Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, and EKFS foundation board member Dr. Carolin Kröner will give welcome addresses. ASHA project director Sanjeev Kumar Singh will deliver the laudatory speech. During the event, Dr. Christine Winkelmann, Executive Board member for projects at German Doctors, will also share plans for future development of the project. Representatives from the Community Health Impact Coalition, a global alliance advocating support and fair remuneration for community health workers, will also speak.
Else Kröner Fresenius Award for Development Cooperation in Medicine
The Else Kröner Fresenius Award for Development Cooperation in Medicine is one of the most renowned awards in development cooperation. It recognizes projects that make an outstanding contribution to improving healthcare. Awarded once a year for a different focus, it is endowed with €100,000, which goes directly to the projects.
More information at:
https://ekfs.de/en/humanitarian-funding/humanitarian-award
The film about the award-winner is available for viewing as of 6 p.m. on 10/14/2025 at:
https://youtu.be/gl2nD2j9pcQ
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (EKFS) – Advancing research. Helping people.
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the funding and advancement of medical research and the support of humanitarian projects. To date the foundation has funded around 2,800 projects. With an annual funding volume currently amounting around 60 million euros it is the largest foundation in Germany that actively funds and supports medicine. You can find more information at: http://www.ekfs.de/en
Press contact
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung
Bianka Jerke
Public Relations
Tel.: + 49 6172 8975-24
Email: b.jerke@ekfs.de
German Doctors e. V.
Susanne Bosman
Public Relations
Tel.: +49 228 387597-63
Email: susanne.bosman@german-doctors.de
Dr. Jochen Bitzer
Medical Development Cooperation
j.bitzer@ekfs.de
+49 (0)6172 8975-26
https://ekfs.de/en/humanitarian-funding/humanitarian-award
Dipanwita Sarkar with a patient
Source: Simone Utler
Copyright: EKFS/Simone Utler
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
Medicine
transregional, national
Contests / awards
English
Dipanwita Sarkar with a patient
Source: Simone Utler
Copyright: EKFS/Simone Utler
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