His Highness the Aga Khan, founder of one of the largestprivate networks of health care institutions in the developing world, received the prestigious Archon Award from theinternational nursing honour society, Sigma Theta Tau International in June 2001.

His Highness the Aga Khan acknowledging the honour from Sigma Theta Tau President, Patricia Thompson, at the Archon Award ceremony held in Copenhagen.

The award ceremony was attended by delegates from around the world who gathered in Copenhagen for the12th International Nursing Research Congress and the International Council of Nurses' 22nd Quadrennial Congress.

The Archon Awards - from the Greek word meaning "the first to lead" - are granted biennially to individuals who, regardless of their profession, have made health advocacy a major aspect of their lives and whose efforts have created significant change that is far-reaching in scope.

The award citation highlighted the Aga Khan's "leadership in promoting global health and welfare and for his compassionate support of nursing and nursing research in developing countries." 

Calling the occasion "a unique moment - not only for nursing, but for health care", the Society's President, Patricia Thompson, described the Aga Khan as a "remarkable individual who, during the course of his distinguished life, continues to leave upon world health, an indelible mark of a world class leader." Acknowledging the honour accorded him, the Aga Khan said that he had "long felt the enhancement of the nursing profession to be absolutely critical to the improvement of health care in the developing world and the Islamic world."

Looking back on the state of health in Pakistan during the early days, the Aga Khan explained the underlying notion that led to the creation of a standard institution in Pakistan: "I felt it particularly important to create an institution in the country that could offer education in the health profession atinternational standards. This would ensure that the teaching and research programmes would not only be of the highest quality, but would also be grounded in local needs and realities, and that, if properly funded and led, could make a distinctive contribution on a permanent basis. In addition, a successful national institution would have the potential to provide leadership directly and through its graduates that would be felt in the professions and also in society more generally."

He added that "because women constitute an overwhelming number of nurses in the developing world, the Board of Trustees of AKU felt that the School of Nursing could foster the enhancement of nurses, and women professionals moregenerally, empowering them and increasing their standing and effectiveness in society."

He explained that "the way forward was to professionalise, institutionalise and to dignify nursing" in Asia and Africa. Proud of the way AKUSON has reached out to assistprofessionals in other developing countries, the Aga Khan said, "more and more women are coming forward to join the (nursing) profession. By adding programmes that lead to Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Nursing for the first time in Pakistan, the School is providing opportunities for career advancement that were out of reach for nearly everyone in the profession in the country."

Underlining the essentiality of international linkages, the Aga Khan hoped that the relationship of AKUSON with foreign educational institutions, such as McMaster University and the Canadian International Development Agency, would continue to remain important as AKU matures and increases contributions to such relationships, as well as being the beneficiary of them.

Past recepients of the Archon Awards have includedDr. Jonas Salk, famed for his extensive research in the development of polio vaccine in the 50's; Elizabeth Dole, President of the American Red Cross; Dr. C. Everett Koop, the internationally recognised paediatric surgeon, and Dame Cicely Saunders, who had pioneered the hospice and palliative care movement across the world.