He is also recognized as an "activist editor" and is considered one of the world's most committed and influential advocates for the health of the population. Its goals are clear: to achieve agendas for debate and analysis that impact the context that health systems are going through to make a difference within societies.
Dr. Richard Horton has proven to be a key player in the outreach of medical information to both professionals and a wider public. He has earned the respect of his collaborators and contemporaries through a career of more than 40 years serving the public.
The award-winning journalist received the 2019 Roux Award, which is awarded annually to individuals at the forefront of global health innovation.
Dave Roux, a philanthropist and entrepreneur from Virginia, describes Horton's work: "Richard has shaped the evolution of priorities through his weekly editorials and commentaries and through the sponsorship of myriad commissions on the vital health issues of our day."
The doctor is concerned, among many things, with the quality of life of children and with the mechanisms that affect the political, academic and social spheres to forge equity in access to opportunities for public health services.
Another relevant topic that has been included in the public imagination is that of “environmental health”, which incorporates public health and its relationship with the environment. He explains that the unity of both is essential and that the understanding of our relationship with the planet will lead not only to the improvement of nature, but also to our general health as human beings.
Horton mentioned that "planetary health was thought as an investigation for our political systems to knock down its obstacles." Within the same thought, he deepens his concern for issues such as racism, populism and xenophobia, topics that, in addition to being understood as social, should also be considered as risk to the health issue.
Among the other positions held by the academic, he stands out as a founding member of the Academy of Medical Sciences and also a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; all this to defend justice towards human rights.
