Stockholm: American scientist Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice and British scientist Michael Huffton Has been selected for the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday.
The Nobel Prize Committee announced it in Stockholm on Monday, saying that research by the three scientists helped explain the major source of blood-borne hepatitis infection that could not have been done by hepatitis A and B bacteria.
The committee said that their research work could help in blood screening and the discovery of new drugs which could save millions of lives. According to the Nobel committee, “their discovery is the result that a blood test with the most accurate results for the virus is available today and that it can prevent hepatitis infection due to blood transfusions in many parts of the world and globally There has been widespread improvement. “
He said, “His discovery has also led to the rapid development of antiviral medication for hepatitis C.” For the first time in history, the disease can now be treated, which has raised hopes of eradication of Hepatitis C virus from all over the world. ”
According to the assessment of the World Health Organization, there are more than 70 million cases of hepatitis worldwide and more than four lakh people die every year. The disease is serious and is expected to cause liver problems and cancer.
The prestigious Nobel Prize carries a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish Kronor (over US $ 11,18,000). The award was instituted 124 years ago by Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel.
This year the medical field award has special significance, where the importance of medical research has been underscored for societies and economies around the world due to the corona virus epidemic. Apart from this, Nobel Prizes are awarded every year for outstanding work in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace and Economics.
