By Yasushi Naito
It has been a half a year since I left Cape Town. But the beauty of the people and land of the Mother City occupies my mind daily, never fading away. Back in Tokyo, I see South Africa continues to receive the respect of Japanese people as a country of Nelson Mandela, a country of great potential, and off course, as a proud winner of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Today, I wish to share the story of the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. Nominations are now open for the fourth Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize.
In memory of Dr Hideyo Noguchi (1876 – 1928), a Japanese bacteriologist who fell victim to yellow fever in Africa during his research on the disease, the prize carries forward his aspirations to improve public health in Africa and advance the global fight against infectious and other diseases.
This international award established by the Japanese government, honours those who have made an outstanding contribution at the forefront of efforts to combat diseases and improve lives in Africa. The prize will be awarded in two categories: (1) medical research and (2) medical services. A unique feature of the prize is that, unlike the Nobel Prize and other awards, it recognises the special link between scientific research and medical services and emphasises the importance of reaching out to the people.
Today, these efforts are more important than ever as the world grapples with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and medical experts and government agencies seek sustainable health solutions based on Universal Health Coverage. Nomination for the fourth Noguchi Prize, which must be made by a third party, are open until August 20 this year.
The Government of Japan awarded the Hideyo Noguchi Africa prize in 2008, 2013 and 2019 honouring a total of 6 outstanding individuals thus far.
Winners of the fourth prize will be revealed at the 2022 TICAD 8 in Tunisia where Africa’s development agenda, including overcoming of challenges caused by the pandemic, will be discussed. Recipients will be presented with a citation, commemorative medal and sum of ¥100 million (about $1m, or R13m). In most cases, laureates choose to set up funds to encourage support for young scientists and professionals.
The fourth Noguchi Prize has special importance. People across the globe, including Japan and Africa, embrace deep gratitude and respect to medical professionals’ selfless efforts in saving patients’ lives every single day.
We saw so many medical workers and leadership and practitioners of the health sector fight against the pandemic and risk their own safety. We saw communities organise soup kitchens to care for those who lost access to food and earnings. They never allowed fear to compromise humanity.
This is the moment we should honour and celebrate achievements. As people have experienced hardships and anxieties, such experiences will encourage them to better understand the pain of others, and resolve to strengthen humanity.
Who is Noguchi?
He was born into a very poor family in Fukushima. He had a physical handicap, a deformity on his left hand due to a burn that he suffered during his early childhood. A successful surgery inspired him to become a medical doctor and he travelled to North and South America and Africa to conduct his research.
Noguchi worked with Professor Simon Flexner and joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. Noguchi earned the epithet “human dynamo” and by the 1910s he was one of the top researchers leading the institute to world fame. Noguchi published more than 200 papers on various diseases and was particularly known for his research on syphilis and yellow fever, losing his life to the latter disease in present-day Accra.
Noguchi was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1914, 1915 and 1920. Although he is not one of 28 Japanese Nobel Prize Laureates, Noguchi became the first scientist whose portrait was printed on a Japanese bank note – on the current ¥1 000. Here again, this footnote connects Japan and South Africa. Later in 1937, a yellow fever vaccine was developed at the Rockefeller Institute by South African scientist Max Theiler who received the Nobel Prize in 1951.
There are many inspirational stories. For instance, last year, Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research in Ghana undertook 80 % of PCR tests in Ghana and supported 11 neighbouring countries in the region. And South Africa’s decisive lockdown at an early stage based on scientific advisory saved the lives of tens of thousands. And Africans, whether in the WHO, WTO or UN, are playing global leadership roles in the fight against the pandemic.
Likewise, in each country, each province and communities, we see so many amazing stories of contribution including nameless heroes and heroines.
The Noguchi Hideyo Africa Prize offers the opportunity to honour and celebrate those achievements and noble efforts and in doing so, reaffirm our commitment to advance humanity. We look forward to receiving many nominations.
Information on the Noguchi Prize, laureates and the nomination process is available on the website or Facebook.
* Naito is Director, Office of Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize, Cabinet Office and Senior Regional Co-ordinator, Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and former Japanese Consul in Cape Town who served as diplomat for 21 years in South Africa.