FGFJ congratulates long-time friend Peter Piot on winning the second Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize in the medical research category for his work with diseases endemic to much of the African continent, including HIV, Ebola, chlamydia, tuberculosis, and gonorrhea.
Dr. Piot is currently the Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was the founding executive director of UNAIDS and under the secretary-general of the United Nations from 1995 until 2008, and was an associate director of the Global Programme on AIDS of WHO. Under his leadership, UNAIDS became the chief advocate for worldwide action against AIDS, also spearheading UN reform by bringing together 10 UN system organizations.
The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize honors individuals with outstanding achievements in the fields of medical research and medical services to combat infectious and other diseases in Africa. The prize was established by the Government of Japan in July 2006 in memory of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, whose contribution to medical advancement and self-sacrificing activities in Africa remains a model of professionalism. It is awarded once every five years, coinciding with the convening of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
For more information, including a press release and acceptance speech, see the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize page.