Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician, scientist, and activist who exposed the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan, is the recipient of Health Care Without Harm’s highest honor, the 2021 Environmental Health Hero Award.
"I am humbled and honored to be this year's recipient of the Environmental Health Hero Award,” Hanna-Attisha said. “However, the recognition really should be reversed. As a young environmentalist in the field of medicine, I discovered Health Care Without Harm and was forever informed by their information and advocacy. Thank you for this recognition, but most importantly, thank you for the foundational influence."
Hanna-Attisha revealed that children’s lead levels had doubled after Flint’s water source was switched from the Great Lakes to the Flint River at a press conference in 2015. She was named one of Time’s 100 “Most Influential People in the World” in 2016, and she was also named one of USA Today’s “Women of the Century” and received the 2020 Fries Prize for Improving Health.
"Mona Hanna-Attisha's work exemplifies enormous leadership as a physician stepping out of the four walls of your institutions and serving her community," Gary Cohen, the president and founder of Health Care Without Harm, said.
Hanna-Attisha accepted the award during Health Care Without Harm’s annual CleanMed conference, where she also served as keynote speaker and discussed the prominent links among the environment, social determinants of health, and racial justice.
Hanna-Attisha is the founder and director of the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative and model public health program in Flint, Michigan.