Highest honour for Irish doctor

AN Irish doctor who has carried out research on birth defects has won a major international award for his contribution to children’s health.

Professor Prem Puri was given the Denis Browne Gold Medal which is considered to be the highest honour in the world of paediatric surgery. The award was made at a ceremony in Stockholm over the weekend.

Prof Puri has been one of the world’s leading medics in the area of birth defects in the past twenty years and his work is believed to have saved hundreds of lives.

In the 1980s he discovered a short procedure for the treatment of kidney reflux — a condition that causes bed-wetting and can lead to kidney failure.

Before his discovery, treatment of the condition required a major surgical procedure.

He has also carried out important research into the underlying causes of birth defects such as heart or limb defects, Spina Bifida and Down Syndrome.

Yesterday morning Prof Puri was back to work in Temple street Children’s Hospital in Dublin where he works as a consultant surgeon.

He also works in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, and in University College Dublin (UCD).

The Denis Browne Gold Medal will be added to the Irish Person of the Year award made to him twenty years ago.

He has also won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons.

Birth defects effect 0.65% of Irish children. Last week there were calls for folic acid to be added to bread to reduce the number of problems which take place in the first few weeks of pregnancy.