Abhay and Rani Bang

Abhay Bang and Rani Bang are Indian activists and community health researchers working in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India.

Together, they have developed initiatives and programs aimed at reducing infant mortality rates. Their initiatives have been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for work carried out across India and in parts of Africa. Abhay and Rani Bang also founded the non-profit Society For Education, Action, and Research in Community Health (SEARCH), which is involved in rural health service and research.

They won the Maharashtra Bhushan Award, and have been awarded honorary doctorates from the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences at Luck now.

SNDT Women's University, Mumbai has also awarded ''honouris causa'' to Rani Bang. ''The Lancet'' described the couple as "the pioneers of health care in rural India". Abhay and Rani Bang were the first recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They were also inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, for their leadership in community-based health care that is helping to save the lives of millions of newborns and children. During their careers, the Bangs have helped foster a renaissance in community-based primary health care. In 2016, Johns Hopkins University conferred the Distinguished Alumni Award upon them. Provided by Wikipedia