Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav

Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav is a former professor and head of the Centre for Community Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of medicine, from Delhi ^[1].

Education

Pandav was born on 3 November 1951 in Solapur district, Maharashtra ^[2]. He went to school in Solapur and Pune, and studied at Sir Parashurambhau College, Pune ^[2]. He took his MBBS and an MD in community medicine at AIIMS, and an MSc at McMaster University in Canada, specialising in health economics, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics ^[2]. He also studied human nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine ^[2].

The Iodine Man

He is called the “Iodine Man of India” for his long campaign against iodine deficiency disorders ^[2]. His research and advocacy helped India’s national control programme and the push to iodise all salt, both at home and in other countries ^[2]. India’s iodised salt coverage rose from under 5% in the 1980s to 93% in 2018–19 ^[2]. He has also studied the economics of the programme, showing that it gives good value for money ^[2].

Pandav is a founding member of the Iodine Global Network and has been its South Asia coordinator since 1985 ^[2]. Since 1983 he has advised the World Health Organization and UNICEF on iodine deficiency in more than 60 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa ^[2].

Writing and honours

He has written more than 600 research papers and co-edited 14 books, among them SOS for a Billion ^[2]. In 2000 the Indian Council of Medical Research gave him the Dr M. K. Seshadri Prize and gold medal, and in 2001 he became a fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences ^[2]. At the time of the award he was a member of the national council on nutrition under the POSHAN Abhiyan ^[2].