Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize

The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize (野口英世アフリカ賞, Noguchi Hideyo Afurika Shō) honors men and women "with outstanding achievements in the fields of medical research and medical services to combat infectious and other diseases in Africa, thus contributing to the health and welfare of the African people and of all humankind.

Release of news about the planned prize was timed to mark the official visit to by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Africa in May 2006.

[3] The Prize aims to honor individuals with outstanding achievements in combating various infectious diseases in Africa or in establishing innovative medical service systems.

[5] The awarding of the Noguchi Prize is planned to be a keynote event at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

He traveled to Africa to try to confirm his findings; and he wanted to test the hypothesis that yellow fever was caused by spirochaete bacteria instead of a virus.

Were, chairperson of Kenya's National AIDS Control Council (NACC), chairperson of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) and formerly Professor of Community Health at the University of Nairobi School of Medicine, was honored in the Medical Services category; and her laureate lecture was "Potential for Improvement in Africa's Health Through Evidence and Persistence in the Spirit of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi.

[16] From the outset, the 2008 Noguchi Prizes—consisting of a citation, a medal and an honorarium of 100 million yen (US$843,668) -- were only intended to be the first in a continuing series; and subsequent prizes are expected to be awarded every five years.