The conferring of the Henry Davison Award — the most distinguished humanitarian award — to the Red Cross Society of China symbolizes the recognition of the society's contribution to domestic and global development and progress in recent years, Chen Zhu, president of the society, said recently.

The award, announced on Sunday, particularly recognizes the society's extraordinary efforts devoted to helping China in battling the initial wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, and implementing regular novel coronavirus control measures, he said.

"The society has also provided comprehensive anti-virus equipment and other materials to members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and arranged domestic experts to other countries, including Iran, Iraq and Italy, to help them fight against the virus," he said during a recent interview.

So far, the society has provided anti-epidemic materials to more than 40 countries and launched a number of online seminars to share experiences in stemming out infections.

It has also supplied 1.6 million COVID-19 vaccines to 12 countries and will provide five million doses more to 15 countries and regions in the near future, according to Chen.

The award was established by the IFRC in 2003 and named after its founder, Henry Davison. It is presented biannually in recognition of "outstanding service in improving the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity."

This year's awardees also included the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, the Red Crescent Society of Iran and an outstanding volunteer recommended by the Somali Red Crescent Society.