Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended the fifth Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize award ceremony held in Tokyo on August 22.

The prize honors those who have made remarkable achievements in the field of medical research and service in Africa.

The ceremony was held in conjunction with the Tokyo International Conference on African Development that was held in Yokohama from August 20 to 22.

This year, Abdoulaye Djimde of Mali was awarded in the medical research category for his many years contributing to the treatment of malaria.

Nonprofit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative based in Switzerland was awarded in the medical services category for achievements in the treatment of African sleeping sickness.

The emperor congratulated the award recipients after the ceremony and spoke to them about their research and activities.

The award is named in memory of Hideyo Noguchi, a Japanese bacteriologist known for his work on syphilis and died in Africa while researching yellow fever.