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| OBITUARY |
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| Year : 2019 | Volume
: 63
| Issue : 2 | Page : 162 |
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Obituary – Prof. S. Elango
| Date of Web Publication | 18-Jun-2019 |
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0019-557X.260601
How to cite this article:
. Obituary – Prof. S. Elango. Indian J Public Health 2019;63:162 |
Members of the Indian Public Health Association express their heartfelt condolence to Prof S. Elango who left for heavenly abode on January 19, 2019 after a brief illness. He was born on April 2, 1952. After passing from Board High School, Ahtoor, Dindigul, he took admission in Madurai Medical College and passed MBBS. He completed MD and DPH from Madras Medical College, DIH from Annamalai University, and physical medicine from AIIPM and RH Mumbai. Starting as JMO at IIT Hospital Chennai, in a career spanning over 30 years, Dr. Elango held various posts in the Central Health Services, JIPMER, Puducherry, WHO, and state health departments including deputy director of health services, faculty member of department of community medicine, joint director, and additional director of public health. He served as the Director of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine from 2008 to 2010. Before that, he has served as the Professor of Community Medicine at Tirunelveli Medical College, Madurai Medical College, and Madras Medical College. He published more than 125 papers. He was the examiner for undergraduates and postgraduates for all universities of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. After retiring from service in 2010, he worked in the Department of Community Medicine of Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Chennai. As a resident of Dindigul, Dr. Elango was the President of the Indian Public Health Association, Tamil Nadu State Branch. He also served as the National Vice President of Indian Public Health Association. Prof. Elango was awarded fellowship by the Society of Biological Scientists of India on January 4, 2013, for his valuable contribution to public health. His untired and fearless information on public health issues to the public through media is highly appreciated and recognized by the society. Among so many awards he received, Bal Thackeray National Award for Senior Citizen, FICCI National Award for Best Health Services, Rotary International Award for Polio Eradication, Guinness World Record for Hand Washing, and Best Teacher Award by MGR Medical University are remarkable.
As the DPH, he had taken up a number of initiatives for tobacco control in the State. Involvement of students as “health ambassadors” in control of vector-borne diseases especially chikungunya was one of his remarkable initiatives.
During the tenure of Dr. Elango, an initiative to issue birth certificates at the institution for babies born in primary health centers took off. It was later followed by all government hospitals, and a government order was issued for that scheme to all government hospitals. This was a people-friendly initiative introduced during his tenure. Dr. Elango handled the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 influenza very well, and is known for his “unbiased” and “bold” expert opinions during public health emergencies. His milestone achievements in reducing maternal mortality ratio, infant mortality rate, total fertility rate in Tamil Nadu, and improvement of infrastructures, primary health care services, and innovative public health programms in Tamil Nadu made him extremely popular.
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