On May 5, 2021, the 18th Gala of the President of Poland’s Economic Award was held at the Presidential Palace. During the ceremony, President of Poland Andrzej Duda presented awards for outstanding merits in developing the Polish economy and entrepreneurship in five primary and two special categories; an individual award was presented to Professor Henryk Skarżyński. The award came at a special time for the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing – the year of the 25th anniversary of the facility.

Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland is a distinction in the area of economy awarded once a year by the President of the Republic of Poland. The initiative has changed its formula over the eighteen editions. Still, the Awards’ aim has remained the same to this day – to support Polish entrepreneurs and distinguish the best among them.

– You are the pride of the Republic of Poland. Thank you very much for building the Polish brand beyond the borders of the country. I hope that today’s award will motivate you even more – said President Andrzej Duda just after he handed the statuettes to the Award Winners.

President Andrzej Duda expressed special thanks to Professor Henryk Skarżyński: – Thank you, Professor, for many years of work and many years of helping patients – a very courageous and innovative work. Thank you for building an enterprise in the field of health protection, restoration of hearing – mainly in children; for hundreds of thousands of performed procedures; for hundreds of thousands of people who are treated by you and your co-workers as part of the enterprise you have built; for over 5 thousand publications, papers, and presentations you delivered all over the world; for your magnificent representation of the Republic of Poland, but, above all, for the way you help people. I do not doubt that in this challenging year of 2020, this award goes where it should, in the hands of a very gifted man who has committed – one can say without exaggeration – his whole life to the mission of helping another human being. And this happens in a very challenging year, just as the Professor has stressed today during our conversation, in a testing time for the whole Polish medical community, for health care – not only in Poland but also worldwide – as many doctors, laboratory diagnosticians, medical rescuers, and nurses have been put to this demanding test. I am glad that this year the award goes to a representative of this broad community who is an exceptional person and exceptional personality. Thank you, Professor. Once again, I express my sincere thanks to you for the whole medical community. Thank you for doing such a great job of representing the Republic of Poland, tirelessly helping people, and serving other human beings. Thank you very much!

Before the gala, President Andrzej Duda met all the Nominees for the 18th edition of the Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland.

It is worth reminding that the first Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland was awarded in 2012 to Prof. Henryk Skarżyński for creating the original concept of the extension of the Institute’s infrastructure and developing a new, original surgical method and new tools (electrode) for treating partial deafness and performing world’s first operations on children and adults. Under the Institute’s care is the world’s largest group of patients who benefited from these innovative solutions.