Abhay Bang Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Abhay Bang

• Abhay Bang grew up at the Sevagram Ashram in Wardha under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi’s disciple Acharya Vinoba Bhave. He attended Anand Niketan, a school that followed Gandhi’s Nai Taleem method, until 9th grade.

• His parents were dedicated followers of Mahatma Gandhi’s principles and the Sarvodaya Movement. Following Gandhi’s advice, his father cancelled his plans to pursue economics in the US and stayed in India to understand economic concepts through the study of villages.

• At 13, Abhay decided to focus on improving the health of villagers after a conversation with his elder brother Ashok about their future goals.

• In 1972, Abhay completed MBBS at Nagpur University, where he topped and earned three gold medals.

• In 1974, he secured first place in the All India Competition for MD Selection at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.

• In 1977, he completed his MD in Medicine at Nagpur University and again secured the first position. In the same year, he married his fellow student Rani Bang.

• In 1984, he completed his MPH at Johns Hopkins University in the US with a grade point average of 3.96/4 (99%). Abhay and Rani, who studied there together, returned to India to focus on supporting underserved communities.

• After returning to India, they began working in tribal and rural areas of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.

• In December 1985, Abhay and his wife Rani established SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health) in Gadchiroli to address local healthcare needs. They worked with local communities to create clinics and build a hospital for them.

• Their Home-Based Neonatal Care (HBNC) model, developed in Gadchiroli, led to a significant drop in infant mortality and sparked global interest in similar approaches. Despite initial doubts, his method gained acceptance over time, which led to the training of about 8,00,000 village women in India through the ASHA program.

• In 1988, they tackled high infant mortality in Gadchiroli by training local women in neonatal care using the HBNC model, which lowered the rate from 121 to 30 deaths per 1,000 births.

• The duo’s HBNC model was later adopted by India in its 12th National Fiver-Year Plan to help reduce infant mortality. It was also adopted by WHO, UNICEF, and USAID to reduce infant mortality in developing countries.

• They conducted participatory action research against alcohol from 1988 to 1993, which raised awareness about its ill effects. This led to a public demand for an alcohol ban, and in 1993, Gadchiroli became the first district in Maharashtra to implement this ban.

• Abhay’s major research includes a field trial conducted between 1988 and 1990, which focused on controlling Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) by using Village Health Workers (VHWs) and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA).

• In 1989, the duo carried out the first community-based estimate of gynaecological problems in rural women, which influenced international policy on women’s reproductive health.

• In 1990, he developed a single device called the Breath Counter to help illiterate traditional birth attendants diagnose pneumonia in children.

• From 1992 to 1995, Abhay conducted studies on reproductive health problems in males. He also researched the health issues faced by home-cared newborns from 1995 to 1996.

• From 1992  to 1998, Abhay led a five-year field trial on home-based neonatal care aimed at reducing neonatal mortality. He also conducted a two-year longitudinal multisite study on child mortality in Maharashtra between 1998 and 2000.

• Since 1996, Abhay has been a member of the Tribal Advisory Council for the Government of Maharashtra.

• From 1998 to 2000, he served as a member of the Scientist Advisory Board of the Indian Council of Medical Research in New Delhi.

• From 2000 to 2002, he served as a member of the Committee on Improving Birth Outcomes in Developing Countries, which was constituted by the Global Board on Health, National Academy of Sciences, USA.

• Abhay served as a member of the National Expert Group on Health for planning the 10th National Five-Year Plan of the Government of India from 2001 to 2002.

• Abhay and Rani served as a member of the National Commission on Population for the Government of India from 2000 to 2005.

• Bang was appointed as the chairman of the Child Death Review Committee for the Government of Maharashtra in December 2003. He served in this position till March 2005.

• Abhay served as a member of the Steering Committee for Tropical Disease Research at the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2002 to 2004.

• In 2002, he became a member of the Advisory Board for the Saving Newborn Lives (SNL) initiative at Save the Children, USA. He continued serving in this position till 2005.

• From 2003 to 2006, he served as a member of the Governing Board of the National Population Stabilisation Fund (NPSF).

• From 2003 to 2011, Abhay served as a member of the Project Review Committee for the ICMR research project on young infants.

• In 2004, he became a member of the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (NCMH).

• In 2005, he served as the chairman of the Government of India’s Advisory Group on Training of ASHA in Home-based Newborn Care.

• Since 2005, Abhay has been a member of the High-Level Committee chaired by the Chief Secretary of the Government of Maharashtra.

• Abhay has authored many books including ‘Sevagram to Shodhgram’ (2006) and ‘Health Care Which Way to Go?’ (2011).

• In 2007, he became a member of the National ASHA Mentoring Group (NAMG) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• Abhay served as a member of the Mission Steering Group (MSG) for the National Health Mission (NHM) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from 2008 to 2014.

• In 2009-2010, he conducted research on the prevalence of tobacco consumption and its effect on household expenditure in Gadchiroli. He also led a community-based study to estimate the amount of back pain and musculoskeletal pain in the community.

• Abhay served as a member of the High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in India, established by the Planning Commission of the Government of India, from 2010 to 2012.

• In 2011, Bang became a member of the High-Level Committee on Balanced Regional Development for the Government of Maharashtra. He served in this position until 2013.

• Abhay served as a member of the Committee on Alcohol and Its Control in Chandrapur from 2011 to 2012.

• He served as the chairman of the Expert Committee on Tribal Health for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from 2013 to 2018.

• Abhay served as a member of the High-Level Committee on Tribal Communities of India under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs from 2013 to 2014.

• From 2014 to 2017, he served as a member of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s Audit Advisory Board.

• In May 2017, the Bombay High Court asked Abhay for his advice on tackling child mortality and malnutrition in Maharashtra. The court approved his suggestions and instructed the state government to implement them in their policies.

• Abhay has served as a member of the Central Council of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

• In 2024, Abhay and Rani appeared on the television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati 16, which aired on Sony Entertainment Television.
  

  Abhay Bang and Rani Bang on the television show Kaun Banega Crorepati 16 (2024)