Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Newsletter No.14
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Preparations Begin for the Third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize
Award Ceremony to Be Held during the TICAD 7 Meeting
in 2019
Laureates for the first prize in 2008: Dr. Brian Greenwood, Dr. Miriam Were
Laureates for the second prize in 2013: Dr. Peter Piot, Dr. Alex G. Coutinho
The initial steps in the selection process for the Third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize have begun. The prize is inspired by the ideals of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi (1876–1928), who died while researching the causes of yellow fever in Africa, and honors people who have made outstanding contributions to fighting infectious or other diseases and improving public health in Africa. The prize consists of two categories: medical research and medical services. The honorarium for each category is 100 million yen. We will soon start to accept nominations of suitable candidates in both categories. The award ceremony for the Third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize will be held on the occasion of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) in 2019. Previous editions of the prize were awarded at five-year intervals, to coincide with previous TICAD conferences in 2008 and 2013. In light of the decision to hold TICAD conferences every three years, hosted alternately in Japan and Africa, Japan’s Prime Minister decided on September 1, 2015, that the prize should be awarded once every six years, to coincide with the holding of the TICAD conference in Japan.
■What is TICAD? ■TICAD stands for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. It is an international conference that brings together heads of state and government to discuss a variety of subjects related to African development. It began in 1993 on the initiative of Japan, and today is co-organized with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the African Union Commission. It is an open forum with participation from international and regional organizations, development partner countries, private companies, and representatives of civil society organizations. In 2016, 6th TICAD was held in Africa (Kenya) for the first time. 7th TICAD will be held in Yokohama in 2019.
Kick-off Meeting Held
for the third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize
On March 2, 2018, a kick-off meeting of the third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Committee, attended by Japanese committee members, was held at the Cabinet Office in Tokyo. The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Committee selects final candidates from up to three nominees put forward in each field by the two sub-committees for medical research and medical services. The Prime Minister makes a final decision based on this recommendation. In the opening remarks, Vice Minister of Cabinet Office, Takashi Kawachi requested committee members to select the right person/organization for each category of the third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. At the meeting, Japanese members of the committee discussed selection criteria and the coming selection process, among other matters.
Nominations will be accepted
from April until July 2018
Selection Process for the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize
We will soon begin to accept nominations for candidates for the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. In addition to the nomination forms that will be sent out to more than 2,500 relevant organizations and individuals around the world, the necessary nomination forms may also be downloaded from Japan’s Cabinet Office website. Nominations will be accepted from April to July 2018. For more details, please see the website for the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. The selection of laureates will be carried out based on nominations received. To nominate suitable candidates for the prize, please consult the nomination guidelines for the Third Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize provided below. We look forward to receiving your nominations.
NOMINATION/SELECTION CRITERIA
Medical Research
- The research has established original and/or milestone concepts for better understanding the pathology or the human and environmental ecology of infectious or other diseases prevalent in Africa, or has improved (1) clinical management, (2) ecological management, or (3) patient therapy relevant to such diseases.
- The research results have in practice contributed, or will contribute in the near future, to improving measures for controlling or treating infectious or other diseases prevalent in Africa.
- Research results that contribute to other regions but are centered on Africa.
Medical Services
- The activity is aimed to fight against infectious or other diseases prevalent in Africa or to improve public health in Africa.
- The activity has broad and direct impact on the improvement of health and welfare of the African people, particularly the poor and contributes to achieving universal health coverage.
- The activities have been carried out on-site for more than 5 years under a defined goal and structured plan. They should have results that can be sustainably developed, allowing other regions of Africa with similar conditions to derive reference or training possibilities from the results.
- The Activities need to have evidence in scientific journals, accounting documents, reports, etc.
- The activities should not be biased to the extent that beneficiaries are neither to be selected nor rejected based on their political, ideological or religious backgrounds.
Laureates for
the First and Second Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize
Introduction of Laureates | |
---|---|
Dr. Brian Greenwood (UK) [Medical Research] |
|
Dr. Miriam Were (Kenya) [Medical Services] |
|
Dr. Peter Piot (Belgium) [Medical Research] |
|
Dr. Alex G. Coutinho (Uganda) [Medical Services] |
Publicity Activities
Exhibition at Global Festa Japan 2017
To publicize the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize, we participated in the Global Festa Japan 2017, held in Odaiba, Tokyo on the weekend of September 30 and October 1, 2017. A life-sized panel of Hideyo Noguchi was exhibited in the booth, and the event provided a good opportunity to introduce people to the prize through pamphlets and information videos. A big thank you to everyone who visited the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize booth.
A Visit by Yoshio Kano, Executive Director of
the New York Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Society
Hideyo Noguchi’s grave in Woodlawn Cemetery (photo by HNMS)
The grave is inscribed with the following epitaph: “Through devotion to science, he lived and died for humanity.”
Did you know that Hideyo Noguchi’s grave is located in the Woodlawn Cemetery in New York? The grave is cared for by the New York Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Society. The Executive Director of the society, Yoshio Kano, visited the office of the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Unit on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. When Dr. Noguchi died in Africa, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research brought his remains by ship to New York, where they were interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery. But with no surviving relatives to look after the grave, the memorial marker deteriorated and for some time was in a bad state of disrepair. Volunteers from the Japanese Medical Society of America spent 4,000 dollars to restore the gravesite. The restoration of the grave provided the impetus for the foundation of the New York Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Society in 2013. Since then, the society has looked after the grave and its memorial marker, and has held a ceremony each year on the day of his death. The New York Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Society will continue to take care of Dr. Noguchi’s grave. In addition to raising funds to continue looking after the grave, the society will also fund scholarships for Japanese students wishing to conduct medical research in the United States, as a way of passing on Dr. Noguchi’s ideals to future generations. Under the watchful care of the society’s members, Dr. Noguchi lies in rest at Woodlawn Cemetery next to his beloved wife Mary.
New York Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Society, Inc. (HNMS)
President: Dr. Shunichi Homma, Executive Director: Mr. Yoshio Kano
Address: 100 Park Avenue, Suite1600, New York, NY10017
The Japanese Medical Society of America
Invitation for Donations
for the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Fund
As part of the prize money to be awarded for this prize, we are inviting donations widely from those who support the idea of this prize. Your goodwill donations will be used to support the activities of people who are playing active roles in improving medical research and medical services in Africa.
About inquiries for donations, please contact Citizen Participation Promotion Division, Domestic Strategy and Partnership Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
E-MAIL : jicata-kifu1@jica.go.jp
- Donations to Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize (as of January 2018)
521,690,972YEN [Individual: 1,992,Corporation or Foundation: 333 (TOTAL2,325)]
Donation in 2017 158,000YEN [Individual: 9,Corporation or Foundation: 1 (TOTAL10)]