Ehime University and Japan International Cooperation Agency Shikoku Center (JICA Shikoku) concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 30, 2023, regarding the dispatch of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs) to the Republic of Ghana to assist in the fight against infectious diseases (malaria, etc.).
Based on this MoU, Ehime University will send one or two students and others to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, a research institute of the University of Ghana, every year to take advantage of the results of malaria research that Ehime University is undertaking. The institute was established in honor of Dr. Noguchi Hideyo, who made great achievements in research on yellow fever. This dispatch will contribute to the improvement of the institute’s research techniques and medical technology in the Republic of Ghana, as well as to the improvement of malaria vaccine performance, and will also promote Ehime University’s human resource development in the field of international cooperation.
The signing ceremony was held in Conference Room 1 on the 5th floor of Ehime University’s Headquarter Building where President Nishina Hiroshige and JICA Shikoku Director Yamamura Naofumi exchanged the MoU.
At the signing ceremony, President Nishina stated, “I hope that Ehime University students and others who are expected to be active as researchers in the future will gain valuable experience abroad, in addition to contributing to the international effort to improve medical technology in the Republic of Ghana. Director Yamamura then remarked, this is the first time for the Noguchi Memorial Medical Research Institute to accept JOCVs, and we look forward to achieving significant research outcomes.
In the future, we plan to dispatch JOCVs for the first time for about a month in November this year, and from next year, we plan to dispatch them from June to August, when malaria is prevalent.
Back from left: Director Kobayashi Osamu, Associate Professor Takashima Eizo, and Vice President Mitsunobu Kazuhiro
＜Institute for International Relations