Akihiro Seita Receives Yomiuri Prize for Health Care Work; Has Devoted Over 30 Years to Helping People in Middle East, Especially Palestinian Refugees

By Nobuo Ishizaki / Japan News Staff Writer

21:00 JST, November 26, 2024

Dr. Akihiro Seita, who has worked for more than 30 years to provide health care for people mainly in the Middle East, especially Palestinian refugees, received the 31st Yomiuri International Cooperation Prize and a ¥5 million award at a ceremony at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Seita, 63, has served as the director of health at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2010, managing health care projects for about 5.9 million refugees.

During his speech at the ceremony, he said UNRWA faces the difficult task of needing to satisfy not only the refugees, but also the countries that receive the refugees and donor countries that support the organization.

“If the refugees are more satisfied, the countries receiving them and UNRWA staff will be satisfied and donor countries will approve, and if we can produce good results, we might receive [more] funding.” Therefore, Seita thinks that it is important to proceed with the work considering the refugees as “the boss.”

He expressed his gratitude for the prize, saying, “I accept this prize and money on behalf of my colleagues.” Seita said he will donate the award money to UNRWA.

Before he started his work at the UNRWA, Seita spent 15 years at the World Health Organization working on measures against infectious diseases in 22 countries and regions such as Somalia and Afghanistan.