Vice President, John Dramani Mahama has paid glowing tribute to Hideyo Noguchi for his immense contribution in the field of tropical medicine in Ghana.
Dr. Noguchi, the Japanese researcher whose work, life, and dedication to the health needs of humanity led to the establishment of the Noguchi Institute for Medical Research in Accra in 1979.
He said Dr.Noguchi, who laid down his life for medical research in yellow fever, has in no doubt, enhanced human progress and survival in Ghana and the world at large.
Mr. Mahama made the observation at the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Memorial Symposium held in Accra in March 2010.
The Symposium formed part of programmes and activities for the historic visit of His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan to Ghana.
The vice-president said the work of Noguchi cannot be underestimated citing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals decision to adopt, in September 2000, to fight diseases and improve health care in the area of child mortality, and maternal health care as well as tackle complex diseases was a testimony of the foresight of this illustrious son of Japan.
Mr. Mahama stressed that the Noguchi Memorial Institute established in honour of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, which is the foremost in the sub-region, has contributed enormously to disease control, capacity building and job creation for nationals.
He also stressed that the institute, since its inception, has focused its attention on infectious and communicable diseases such as malaria, measles, tuberculosis and other diseases that can be prevented by vaccines. “The Institute has also taken into research into nutrition, food contamination, parasitic diseases and other problems of public health importance and health systems in the country”, he stressed.
The Vice President was particularly happy that the Institute has served as a platform for continuous collaboration in the development and exchange of ideas and information between Japanese and Ghanaian researchers.
Mr. Mahama commended the Government and people of Japan for being true friends to Ghana, acknowledging that the Japanese taxpayers have continued to fund some of the most critical infrastructural projects in Ghana while young Japanese Oversea volunteers continue to arrive in Ghana to serve in some of the remote and deprived parts of our country.
Mr. Mahama also expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the work the Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Institute was undertaking, which, “Undoubtedly, opened our understanding to parasitic and communicable diseases and also contributed immensely to medical research into parasitic and other related diseases in the country”.
For his part, Crown Prince Naruhito said the efforts of great number of people concerned with medicine and health that have followed in Dr. Noguchi’s path have discovered vaccines and the measures taken against yellow fever have significantly advanced compared to the time when Dr. Noguchi was devoting himself to his research.
The Imperial Highness who is an Honorary President of the United Nations Secretary-Generals Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, however, bemoaned that despite the enormous gains in research the 21st century still holds gloom for Africa.
He said Africa continues to suffer from a great number of infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS where over 22.4 million Africans are infected with the HIV/AIDS resulting in about 1.4 million people dying from the virus.
Prince Naruhito, therefore, called on the International Community to take immediate action against such serious problem.
He also urged those attending the symposium to contribute to raising the awareness of the importance of research in the field of infectious diseases and that it will strengthen the healthcare system in Africa.
Story by George Azrigo and Gloria Asinyo
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Thanks for the bravery shown in leadership, its our hope that would continue to do the good work you are doing
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