Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Committee,20 February 2012, Tokyo Outline
As of 24 February 2012
- 1. Opening remarks by Prime minister Mr. NODA
Mr. NODA thanked the committee members for accepting to join the Committee. He admired the first laureates (Dr. Brian Greenwood and Dr. Miriam Were) for their achievements after the award. He also reiterated the relevance of the Prize from the view point of MDGs. He requested the Committee to recommend one final candidate in each category to him for his final decision.
- Election of the chair of the Committee
Dr. KUROKAWA was re-elected as chair of the Committee among the members.
He also delivered his short message and expressed his willingness to select brilliant candidates for the 2nd round of the Prize.
- Briefing by the Secretariat (Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Unit, Cabinet Office)
Mr. HORIUCHI, Director, Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Unit, explained as follows.
(1) Schedule
・March 2012 nomination invitation letters will be sent to researchers, research institutes, medical establishments, etc. around the world.
・June or July or August 2012 Committee meeting (if necessary) in Tokyo
・January or February 2013 Committee meeting in Tokyo to select the finalist for each category based on the reports by Sub-committees
・February 2013 Prime minister will select the laureates based on the recommendation of the Committee.
・June 2013 Prize Ceremony in Yokohama, Japan on the occasion of the TICAD V (fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development) to be held 1st to 3rd June 2013 in Yokohama.
The Secretariat asked the Committee members to attend the Committee meetings (in particular, the one in January or February 2013) and Prize Ceremony.
(2) Nomination criteria and selection criteria
Mr. HORIUCHI explained about the nomination invitation letter and its attached nomination guidelines sent in 2007 for the Prize 2008 and proposed to use the same guidelines for the Prize 2013.
As for the selection criteria, the Secretariat will welcome comments by the Committee members, if any.
(3)First laureates and their activities
Mr. HORIUCHI reported the activities and achievements by our two laureates: Dr. Brian Greenwood (Medical Research category) and Dr. Miriam Were (Medical Services category). Dr. Greenwood has set up with his prize honorarium Africa-London-Nagasaki scholarship program to train young African medical researchers either in U.K. (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) or in Japan (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University). Dr. Were has been pushing forward her Community Based Health Strategy with her prize honorarium and these days she is very active in promoting Maternal and Child Health Handbook.
(4) Prize fund
Mr. HORIUCHI showed the balance sheet to the Committee members.
The current balance, as of 31 December 2011, is 393,472,742 Yen: the total amount of the donation is 493,472,742 Yen. 100,000,000 yen was disbursed in 2008 as a part of the prize honorarium. The fund is administrated by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).
- Briefing on TICAD V (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) by Ministry of Foreign affairs
Mr. KUSAKA, Director-General, African Affairs Bureau explained about the TICAD. He said the Prize was one of Japan’s endeavors to fight against infectious diseases in the world, especially in Africa.
- Briefing on Sub-committee in charge of Medical Research Category by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Mr. YOSHIDA, Director-General, Research Promotion Bureau, circulated the list of the Sub-committee (Medical Research Category) members and explained the schedule of the Sub-committee. Up to now, 19 Japanese members are confirmed and 5 non-Japanese members will be added. The first meeting is scheduled to be held on 21 March 2012 in Tokyo.
- Briefing on Sub-committee in charge of Medical Services Category by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Dr. MUGITANI, Director-General in charge of International affairs circulated the list of the Sub-committee (Medical Services) members and explained the schedule of the Sub-committee. 12 members (5 Japanese and 7 non-Japanese) are confirmed. The memorandum of cooperation with WHO/AFRO will be concluded in due course.
- Discussion among Committee members
With regard to the presentations made by the Cabinet office and other relevant ministries, there were no objections from the Committee members.
(However, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.)
- AOB
The Secretariat will send the minutes to each member as soon as they are ready.
- Closing remarks by Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Mr. FUJIMURA mentioned the dynamism and challenges that he found during his visit in Africa in 2008 and expressed his expectations vis-à-vis the Prize, describing it as Japanese unique way of helping African development.