Ashok Banskota
2011 Health Winner
Nepal

At a glance:

• Dr Banskota provides medical care to the children of Nepal
• His program focuses on poor children with disabilities
• To date, he has served more than 43,000 children

Dr. Ashok Banskota has dedicated a lifetime of service to the most disadvantaged children in Nepal. He has volunteered his time and talents for decades to give more than 43,000 poor, disabled children new lives. After training and earning his board certification in New York, he found the medical situation in Nepal shockingly limited and primitive, particularly for the poor. In 1984, Dr. Banskota started a small program to help poor children with disabilities. Over time, his program grew into what is now the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC), a world-class center located in Nepal that provides surgery and rehabilitation for children who would otherwise be ostracized by society or even sold to circuses to live a short life of humiliation. HRDC treats children under seventeen for a whole range of problems from club feet, to burn victims, and to TB of the spine.