Award Ceremony for the Japan Medical Research and Development Grand Prize

On December 24, 2021, the Prime Minister attended the fifth award ceremony for the Japan Medical Research and Development Grand Prize at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

“I congratulate all the winners of the awards under the prestigious fifth Japan Medical Research and Development Grand Prize. I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations.

This time, the Prime Minister’s Award was given to honor the achievement of the research and development, commercialization, and promotion of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This equipment has been utilized as a trump card to save the lives of patients with severe symptoms on the frontline of the battle against the novel coronavirus disease and has actually saved a large number of them.

This is all thanks to efforts by everyone who has continued to improve the product for many years and strived to foster human resources who can operate this sophisticated equipment in medical settings. I would like to express my sincere respect for you.

This is not limited to ECMO’s case, but research and development is a very harsh field, where people are required to go through a series of trials and errors and tenaciously produce results. The Kishida Cabinet will address innovation and science and technology as one of the most important areas in our growth strategy.

Against this background, we will make all-out efforts to promote the research and development in the medical field, including supporting the development of vaccines and therapeutics, with an eye on the next infectious disease crisis.

In closing, I would like to extend my best wishes for the continued success of all the award winners here today.

Congratulations to all of you once again.”