Dr. Robert Bergquist, Foreign Expert at the China CDC’s National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Receives the 2024 Chinese Government Friendship Award

On September 30, 2024, Dr. Bergquist, accompanied by his wife, attended the Friendship Award ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where he received the medal and certificate from State Councilor Shen Yiqin. On the same day, China CDC Director Prof. Shen Hongbing sent a letter congratulating Dr. Bergquist on receiving this prestigious honor and commended his outstanding contributions to the field of tropical diseases prevention and control in China.

 

Since its establishment in 2002, China CDC has had eight foreign experts recognized with the Chinese Government Friendship Award, honoring their contributions to public health in China.

 

Dr. Bergquist has held several notable positions, including as an official with the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and as Vice Chair of the Joint Research Management Committee of the World Bank Loan Project to China for Schistosomiasis Control. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Geospatial Health and as Chair of the One Health Research Foundation in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. Since his first collaboration with Chinese institutions in 1987 as a WHO official, Dr. Bergquist has dedicated nearly four decades to advancing tropical disease control in China. His enduring contributions to China’s fight against schistosomiasis have helped disseminate China’s prevention and control expertise globally, fostering remarkable progress in the field of tropical diseases prevention and control.