Georgia’s President honours Health Minister with top state award

Georgia’s President is honouring the country’s Minister of Labour, Healthcare and Social Affairs with a top state award for his efforts to bring better healthcare to the Georgian people.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili awarded Minister Davit Sergeenko with the St. George’s Order of Victory for his personal contribution to the county’s successful healthcare reforms and for the high level of professionalism he exuded while performing his duties.

"On behalf of the Georgian people I would like to thank Mr. Sergeenko for his outstanding work in the country’s healthcare system,” said the President.

The Ministry of Healthcare truly made a revolutionary step forward in terms of the protection of our citizens. We decided to honour his great contributions and awarded him the St. George’s Order of victory,” said President Margvelashvili at yesterday’s ceremony.

The award ceremony coincided with World Health Day, which was marked around the world on April 7.

The St. George’s Order of Victory is an honour awarded by the President of Georgia since 2004.

After presenting the award, Margvelashvili reiterated that as a result of Sergeenko’s outstanding work, life had become easier for thousands of people living in Georgia.

Sergeenko responded and said he was honoured to receive such important recognition.

A sincere thank you, Mr. President on behalf of the entire medical community and with your permission I would like to share this greatest award to the doctors, nurses and all the people, who right now are standing next to patients' bedsides or surgical tables, or hurrying to save a patient’s life.”

Without their support it would have been impossible to achieve this modest success we have made,” Sergeenko said.

The St. George’s Order of Victory is an honour awarded by the President of Georgia. It is the country’s second highest award, following behind the Order of National Hero. It was established in 2004.

To date about 100 people have received a St. George’s Order of Victory, including former United Staates President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, former President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, former President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.