A Filipino medical doctor was conferred two international health research awards in Europe in recognition of his research work concerning the health and welfare of seafarers.

According to a report of the Philippine Embassy in London to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), research works submitted by Dr. Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III won best studies during the 11th Conference of International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) in Budapest, Hungary from May 24 to 28.

He also received medals for his studies presented at the First International Congress of Maritime, Tropical and Hyperbaric Medicine at Gdynia, Poland held on June 4 to 6.

Prisno is working on his PhD degree at the Cardiff University in Wales.

Titles of his studies presented in Hungary are: “International Seafarers as Patients: Towards a Model of an Effective Global Health System,” and “Global Seafarers: Why Risky to STIs (Sexually transmitted Infections) and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) When They Work and Travel” while the studies he presented in Poland are entitled, “An Analysis of the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) Epidemic in the Maritime Industry,” and “The Anatomy of Stress: the Filipino Seafarer and His Work.”

Prisno is a long-time advocate of Filipino seafarers, with his calls for reforms in the maritime industry and social corporate responsibility from ship owners.

His work on AIDS in the maritime industry has yielded several substantive programs. He recently co-authored the book, International Medical Guide for Ships, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is carried by all ships and used as a guide for health problems onboard.