Senior journalist Ravi Prakash has been is due to receive this year’s Patient Advocate Education Award by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) - a prestigious organisation working in the field of lung cancer. The journalist is also a last stage lung cancer patient.

Prakash will be given this award on September 7 during the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) to be held in San Diego city in America. Every year this award is given to a person who raises the issues of patients in the field of lung cancer. IASLC's Patient Advocate Educational Award is given annually to five people working in the field of patient advocacy in different countries around the world and this year journalist Ravi Prakash has been selected from India.

Ravi has been suffering from lung cancer since January 2021 when the disease was detected in the fourth stage. Since then, he has been undergoing treatment for cancer and has also raised his voice in support of the patients on many forums. Even on social media, he has been continuously vocal about the cost of medicines and the problems faced by cancer patients.

Regarding this, journalist Ravi said, “Life was going on comfortably. Then one day suddenly cancer knocked in the final stage and entered my body. Now my breath is a guest for a few hours, months or years- there is no fixed time for that either. Even today there is no guarantee as to when the time will come to leave this world. That's when I started understanding cancer, the problems of the patients and started raising my voice. I am happy that an esteemed organisation like the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer has selected me for this prestigious award.”

So far, Ravi Prakash, who has undergone 68 sessions of chemotherapy. He is also the director of Lung Connect India, a voluntary organization working for cancer patients. Last year, he also addressed the conference of SAARC Federation of Oncologists held in Kathmandu.