Content area
Abstract
Born to a family of farmers in Bihar, India, Dr C P Thakur studied medicine at Patna University, then the universities of London and Edinburgh. In 1984 he fought the Lok Sabha election and is now Minister of Health and Welfare. He is a member of the WHO expert committee on kala-azar (Leishmaniases), which he suffered from as a child. He is married to Dr Uma, who has a doctorate in Hindi, and they have two daughters and two sons.