Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) is a medical research institute located at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

in Accra, Ghana. It was founded in 1979 with funds donated by the Japanese government.

History

The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research is a semi-autonomous institute of the University of Ghana located in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. It is the premiere biomedical research center in the country.

The institute was established through combined efforts by the former dean of the University of Ghana school of medicine, Prof. E. O. Easmon, and Prof. Kenji Honda of Fukushima school of medicine in Japan, and therefore the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...

(JICA). It was built by the government of Japan and donated to the government and people of Ghana in honour of the Japanese researcher

Hideyo Noguchi , also known as , was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who in 1911 discovered the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease. Early life Noguchi Hideyo whose childhood name was Seisaku Noguchi was born to a family of farme ...

, who researched

Yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

in Ghana and died from the disease in the country in 1928. Test samples for the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana The COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first two cases in Ghana were confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infected ...

are performed and confirmed by the institute.

Training

In January 2021, the Institute undertook a five-week capacity building training in diseases for about 15 lab technicians who were from 9 countries in West Africa.

Awards and recognition

In November 2020, the institute was given a citation by the

Association of Ghana Industries Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is the umbrella body that regulates the activities of industries in Ghana. The body also lobbies the Government of Ghana on issues that affect industries in the country. Industrial conference in China The ass ...

at the ninth edition of the Ghana Industry and Quality Awards. This was in recognition of their efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. In February 2021, the institute was given LIS, which was supported by Healthcare Federation of Ghana in partnership with Medlab Ghana Services Limited and other institutions. The LIS was said to be used by the institute's technical staff.

References

Medical research institutes in Ghana University of Ghana Ghana–Japan relations {{Ghana-stub