Book Tickets for The Edinburgh Medal

Each year, the Edinburgh Medal is awarded to men and women of Science and Technology, whose professional achievements are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity.

This year the Edinburgh Medal award goes to the eminent Richard Horton, Editor of ‘The Lancet’ – the world’s leading independent, general medical journal.

Richard Horton MB, BS, BSc, FRCP, FMedSci, receives the 2007 Edinburgh Medal for his endless campaigning for global human compassion. From 2002-06 as Editor of The Lancet he played a significant part in democratising the elections for the Director-General of WHO. In 2003, he launched a long-term campaign (to 2015) focused on the lack of attention paid to maternal and child health worldwide. Over the last three years he has been active in a collaborative project looking at the unique relationship between doctor and patient. Here he has argued for the need to protect and augment human dignity in contemporary medical practice.

Richard Horton campaigns endlessly on the need for medicine as a vital, cultural and global force in society and has been outspoken over the role of the pharmaceutical industry in medicine, the MMR vaccine, euthanasia, the ethics of medical publishing, and global health.

Currently he is a member of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, at the University College, London. From 2005-06 he was president of the US Council of Science Editors. He was also the first President of the World Association of Medical Editors

The Edinburgh Medal was first awarded in 1989 to Nobel Prize winner Professor Abdus Salam. Since then other award winners have included Sir David Attenborough and Professor Heinz Wolff.

His keynote address, following the presentation of this award at the City Chambers, promises to be one of the main highlights of this year’s Festival.

Book your tickets early.