Dileep G. Bal

Dileep G. Bal (born ) is an Indian-American physician, epidemiologist, and public health administrator. He is also a faculty member of the John A. Burns School of Medicine of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and previously of the University of California School of Medicine at Davis and the University of Arizona College of Medicine. As a public servant, health advocate and academic researcher, his areas of focus include tobacco control, cancer and obesity prevention, and remedying socio-economic disparities in health care.

Bal's career as a public servant spans 46 years Previously, he held the position of Pima County Health Director in Tucson, Arizona. He has also served as a president of the American Cancer Society's (ACS) local unit, a state division, and later served a term as president of the nationwide ACS organization in 2001.

Early life and education Bal was born in Madras City, and later moved to New Delhi, India. He earned his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. He also graduated with a Master of Science degree from Columbia University in 1970 and a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University in 1971. Bal completed his clinical residency at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Bal went on to serve as deputy director, and was later director of the health department from 1977 to 1981.

In 1981, Bal was appointed as a public health medical officer and later was promoted to become the head of the Cancer Control Branch of California's Department of Health Services. He spent 25 years in the department, gaining renown for his design of and contributions to California's anti-tobacco campaign that was replicated in many states in the U.S. and several countries around the world. The campaign was funded by the passage of Proposition 99 in 1988, which imposed a 25-cent tax on every pack of cigarettes sold in California. by addressing the predatory advertising and marketing practices of the tobacco industry. Another creation of this program was a statewide effort to address second-hand smoke including legislation banning smoking in California restaurants and bars. Bal was a principal architect behind the California initiative of using public funds to counter the tobacco industry's deceptive public relations and advertising campaign by designing and implementing a counter-advertising effort. Bal is an active member of ACS, Among them, the best known is Tropic Care Kauai, a biennial two-week United States Department of Defense-funded training program that brought about 400 healthcare professionals each year to Kauai to provide medical, dental, optometric and other health care to Kauai's population in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017. The program has benefited many Kauai residents, especially in the provision of much-needed dental care (which is often not covered by health insurance), and provided about 3,500 pairs of free prescription eyeglasses in just the first year. Bal was the one who first researched, applied for and brought these military training programs to Kauai, and then exported them to the other Hawaiian islands. In July 2016, Bal retired as Kauai District Health Officer after more than 11 years at the position, but the programs like Tropic Care continue.

Personal life Bal is married to Muktha Bal and they live in Kauai. They have two adult children, Sarah and Vijay.

In 2006, Bal was awarded the Christopher N.H. Jenkins Cancer Control Award for "significant accomplishments in community-oriented cancer prevention and control efforts targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders"

In 2007, he was given the American Medical Association Foundation Award for Education which is awarded to "physicians who have led, developed or implemented professional and public health education activities."

Bal was awarded the 2009 Luther Terry Award by the American Cancer Society for leading California's Tobacco Control Section in making "outstanding progress in tobacco control... He has earned a reputation for making courageous decisions and taking calculated risks to advance tobacco control to unprecedented levels of effectiveness." In bestowing the honor, the American Medical Association's chairman Stephen R. Permut stated: