Dr. Bang grew up in the Sevagram Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi whose life and philosophy have inspired him. He was active in social movements such as the Bhoodan movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Youth movement of Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan.

 

Along with his wife Dr. Rani Bang, in 1985 he founded the voluntary organization, SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health) in one of the most underdeveloped districts, Gadchiroli, in the state of Maharashtra in India, where they have been working with the people in 150 villages to provide community-based health care and conduct research.

 

They first brought to the notice of the world that rural women suffer from a large hidden burden of gynaecological diseases. His model – Home-based Newborn and Child Care, has been adopted for national scaleup by the Government of India (GoI), in 2017.

 

Dr. Bang has conceived and led a district pilot project called ‘Muktipath’ which aims to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption.

 

He was Chairman of the Expert Committee on Tribal Health (GoI) which has produced the first ever comprehensive report titled Tribal Health in India, in 2018. In addition, to his numerous recognitions and accolades, Dr. Bang has also been an eminent Member of the Central Health Council, Ministry of Health (GoI) and High-Level Expert Group appointed by the Planning Commission to plan Universal Health Care, in India.