The health ministry said Tuesday that it will establish a new expert body in April 2025 to prepare for future infectious disease crises.
The body, billed as the Japanese version of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be called the Japan Institute for Health Security.
The government plans to work on details of the body, selecting its leader, who will serve as commander in the event of a pandemic, and deciding the size of its personnel.
"We will tackle future pandemics with a rock-solid system and provide a sense of security to many people in the country," health minister Keizo Takemi said during a preparatory committee meeting.
The new body will integrate the current National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Global Health and Medicine.
It will collect and analyze information on infectious diseases, conduct research and development, develop human resources and maintain the medical care system in an integrated manner.
The organization is aimed at expediting initial responses to the emergence of unknown pathogens, such as decisions on the isolation and waiting periods for patients and medical treatment methods.
It will work with the Cabinet Agency for Infectious Disease Crisis Management, launched last September, in the event of an emergency to reflect scientific knowledge in policies.
The body's supervisory department will consist of five divisions including the crisis management bureau, which will carry out information collection and risk assessment on infectious diseases.
The other planned divisions are the general research and development support bureau, the medical services support bureau, the human resources development bureau and the system infrastructure development bureau.
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