Contagious diseases still the scourge of Africa

05/30/2008

Bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi, who researched yellow fever in Africa in the early Showa Era (1926-1989), was struck down by the disease and died there in 1928 at the age of 51. It is said his death was due to the fact the vaccine he made did not work. His last words are said to have been: "I don't understand." Although times have changed, I feel those words reflect the horror of infectious diseases.

In commemoration of Noguchi's achievements, the government established the Noguchi Hideyo Africa Prize for medical research and health-care services related to Africa. The prize was presented for the first time Wednesday to coincide with the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama.

One of the recipients of the prize, Dr. Brian Greenwood, is a British specialist on malaria research. He has lived in Africa for many years and, aside from his own research, has devoted much of his time to training local researchers. Although the local conditions are harsh, I heard his work has produced steady results.

But there is still a long way to go before the disease is eradicated. In Africa, 3,000 children are said to die every day of the disease, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. In sub-Saharan Africa, one out of every six children dies before he or she reaches the age of 5. Malaria is one of the major causes of infant deaths.

Malaria has also been dubbed the "disease of poverty." What little money residents have is used for prevention and treatment. The disease causes poverty, and poverty causes the disease to spread. Malaria is not the only disease that continues to plague the region. Eight decades after Noguchi's death, various infectious diseases such as AIDS continue to pose a major threat to people across Africa.

When Noguchi moved to Africa, an American newspaper reported that he started a fight against his arch-nemesis yellow fever. While it may be difficult for ordinary people to make such a contribution, with a little cooperation, there are various ways in which we can support Africa. Can we not make TICAD, which started with great fanfare, an occasion for us to become closer to African nations, which are said to be "both geographically and psychologically far" from Japan?

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 29(IHT/Asahi: May 30,2008)