Stockholm (Sweden): Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton were awarded the Nobel Price for Medicine or Physiology on Monday for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.
The announcement was made on Monday, 5 October 2020 at 11.30 am (3:00 pm in India) at the Nobel Forum at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
The World Health Organisation estimates there are over 70 million cases of hepatitis worldwide and 400,000 deaths each year. The disease is chronic and a major cause of liver inflammation and cancer.
The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1,118,000), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
The medicine prize carried particular significance this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has highlighted the importance that medical research has for societies and economies around the world.
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