Professor Judith Longstaff Mackay awarded the inaugural Sir John Crofton Medal in Global Health

Professor Judith Longstaff Mackay awarded the inaugural Sir John Crofton Medal in Global Health 

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (“the College”) on Friday awarded the inaugural Sir John Crofton Medal in Global Health to Professor Judith Longstaff Mackay. The medal- named after the late Sir John Crofton, a former College President who was a leading respiratory clinician and pioneer of treatments in tuberculosis- is a new annual medal the College will award to recognise an individual or group’s role in global health. Professor Mackay was presented with the medal by College President Professor Mark Strachan during a Diploma Ceremony in the College. Members of the late Sir John Crofton’s family were in attendance for the presentation.  

Professor Mackay is a renowned public health leader known for her global work in tobacco control, particularly in Asia. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Professor Mackay became a Fellow of the College in 1984. She is the founder and director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, an Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong and a senior policy adviser at the World Health Organisation (WHO). She was instrumental in initiating the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is regarded as one of the most influential voices in tobacco control world-wide. Among numerous international honours and awards, Professor Mackay was previously awarded an Honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh, holds an OBE and was named as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. 

Dr Conor Maguire, College Vice-President (International) said:

The College is delighted to award the inaugural Sir John Crofton Medal in Global Health to Professor Judith Mackay. She has made an exceptional contribution on the international stage over the course of many decades in advocating successfully for tobacco control measures, including in developing countries. She has been fearless in standing up to the tobacco industry in the interests of population health and she has rightly won the respect of the medical community and governments for her knowledge and expertise. 

Professor Mackay has inspired a huge number of global health practitioners and she continues to play a critical role in international efforts on tobacco control and in policy approaches to e-cigarettes and vaping. 

The new Sir John Crofton Medal in Global Health is another demonstration of the College’s international reach and the importance we place on smoking cessation, particularly in less affluent countries. Global health issues including this, as well as the effects of conflict, and climate change on health, are high on the College agenda and reflect our continuing commitment to improving health outcomes worldwide.

Professor Liz Grant, Deputy Director International, noted that it is particularly fitting that in this the 300th year of the Edinburgh Medical School, Professor Judith Mackay is the first recipient of this special Medal. She said: 

Professor Mackay’s life’s work has been governed by the values of global partnerships to share policy and practice. Her work demonstrates that health is global, and together as a global College community we can bring about changes that improve the lives of all. 

Professor Mackay said:

The person who has had the greatest influence on my professional life since undergraduate days at Edinburgh University medical school is Sir John Crofton. I call myself a Croftonite – one of a network of people around the world trained and influenced by Sir John. He introduced me to the harm of tobacco in the 1960s and, after an early career in hospital medicine in Hong Kong, I moved to tobacco control in 1984, working with all the Asian countries as varied as China, Mongolia, North Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as the Middle East.  

Big Tobacco did not take kindly to finding a rather determined British woman in their path to conquering the potentially huge Asian markets. I regard their labelling me ‘one of the three most dangerous people in the world’ as an accolade.

I have spent the last 40 years working with governments to adopt tobacco control policies, fighting Big Tobacco, authoring a series of 12 health atlases to transform statistics into colourful maps and graphics, initiating and helping to steer the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and now finalising a 4-book series on the history of tobacco in Asia and the Middle East. 

Sir John Crofton was my inspiration for all of this work, and at my annual visits to him, he always had lists of more things for me to do when I got back to Asia. It is a huge honour to receive this award in his name.

Professor Mark Strachan, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said:

I was extremely pleased to present the College’s first Sir John Crofton Medal in Global Health to Professor Mackay who has achieved so much in the field of global tobacco control, helping to prevent ill health in generations of people in numerous countries. 

Professor Mackay’s strength of character, leadership, academic excellence and commitment to public health globally make her an exceptionally worthy recipient of this award.

The College looks forward to awarding the Sir John Crofton Medal annually to other individuals or groups who are leading the way in global health and demonstrating outstanding achievement in tackling global health challenges and promoting health equity for all.