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December 26, 2024
 

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NATIONAL HEALTH CARE

Currently, if a hospital declines an organ due to logistical or other issues, it is instead offered to a patient at another facility.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 6, 2024
Multi-facility option set for patients awaiting organ transplants
The health ministry aims to address situations in which high-priority patients miss out on transplants due to logistical issues at their hospital.
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
JAPAN / Explainer
Dec 1, 2024
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, there is a one-year grace period for their integration with My Number cards.
The health ministry's free "catch-up vaccination" program for the human papillomavirus will be extended to March 2025 for the initial dose of the vaccine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2024
Deadline for ‘catch-up’ HPV vaccination program extended until March
The revised timeline allows eligible women to receive their first dose by the end of March 2025 and complete the remaining two within the following year.
Out of over 16,000 pharmaceutical products, 3,103 — or 18.5% — were either in limited or suspended supply as of the end of October, according to a recent survey. Of these, over 60% are generic drugs.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2024
Japan's generic drug shortage continues as flu season kicks off
The supply shortfall is due to a string of scandals that hit the generic drug industry in recent years as well as other structural problems.
For patients using donanemab, it will cost them about ¥3.08 million per year. But national insurance coverage will have the government shoulder most of the cost.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 13, 2024
Japan OKs insurance coverage of Alzheimer's drug donanemab
Donanemab became the second Alzheimer's drug that targets causative deposited plaque in the brain to win the coverage after lecanemab.
Since October, patients have been asked to pay more for brand-name drugs prescribed by medical institutions if the patents have expired.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024
Japan raises out-of-pocket costs for off-patent drugs
With the increases, the government aims to reduce health care costs by encouraging greater use of generic drugs.
Political parties are highlighting measures to reform the health care system for the elderly and the public pension system as the population ages.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2024
Parties highlight measures for working generation
The country's health care and public pension systems are being discussed ahead of the upcoming general election.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024
HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval
The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Tokyo on Tuesday as this year's routine vaccination program for people age 65 or older began.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024
Routine COVID-19 vaccinations begin for elderly in Japan
The program mainly targets people age 65 or older. It began on Tuesday and will run until March 31 next year.
A 13-year-old junior high school student receives a vaccine for the human papillomavirus at a hospital in Tokyo in 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 27, 2024
Deadline approaches for free HPV vaccine 'catch-up' campaign
The government's free vaccination program requires the first dose to be administered by the end of September to complete the three-dose series before the campaign ends.
A total of 509 patients in Japan had to give up on organ transplant operations last year because hospitals were unable to carry out such procedures, according to a health ministry survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2024
Hospital shortcomings forced 509 patients to abandon organ transplants
A lack of hospital staff and insufficient space in intensive care units needed for such operations were among the reasons.
From October, patients who choose the original versions of drugs with expired patents over their generic counterparts will shoulder higher costs.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2024
Out-of-pocket costs for off-patent drugs to rise in October
Moisturizing ointments and patches are among the 1,095 items to be affected by the revision.
The government is considering asking more people age 75 or over to pay 30% of their medical costs.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024
Japan may require more elderly people to foot 30% of their medical costs
Currently, those age 75 or older pay in principle 10%, while those with preretirement levels of income pay 30%.
The third straight annual rise in medical fees reflected Japan's aging population and the increased use of advanced medical equipment and technologies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 4, 2024
Japan medical costs hit record high in fiscal year 2023
The third straight annual rise reflected the country's aging population and the increased use of advanced medical equipment and technologies.
The health ministry will seek a record general-account budget of ¥34.3 trillion for fiscal 2025 amid increasing social security costs.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024
Health ministry seeks record ¥34 trillion budget for fiscal 2025
The amount was pushed up by increasing social security costs that reflect the country's aging population.
Currently, the frequency of medical visits is checked using receipts of medical fees issued by medical institutions and pharmacies to health insurance program operators.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024
Ministry to identify and support those who make frequent medical visits
The health ministry plans to carry out a model project for swiftly identifying welfare recipients who frequently visit the same medical institutions.
An ambulance is parked at the entrance of the emergency room of Saitama Hospital in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, on July 24.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Aug 20, 2024
How Japan's health care system is gearing up for more heatstroke cases
Rising heatstroke cases are weighing on the nation’s health care system, which is already wrestling with the growing burden of a rapidly aging population.
Health minister Keizo Takemi fields questions from reporters in March after a Cabinet meeting to deal with health problems caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni kōji red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024
Health Minister Keizo Takemi on how to improve Japan's health care system
Digitalization, hiring high-skilled foreign workers and increasing wages are among the steps that Japan could take.
In the past 11 months, health minister Keizo Takemi has been charting his own path, seeking to make Japan's health care policies more global and digitalized.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024
Global mindset crucial for reform of Japan's health care, minister says
International strategies and domestic health care reform are inextricably linked, says health minister Keizo Takemi.
In recent years, the number of ambulance dispatches has been on the rise, amid concerns that those who need urgent care may not be receiving it.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 7, 2024
Japan municipalities take tougher stance on nonurgent ambulance calls
The proliferation of nonurgent calls and related requests for ambulances have been giving local municipalities a headache.
Human error caused JAL jet collision at Haneda Airport: safety board
The wreckage of a Japan Airlines plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 5, three days after the crash.
Step into ukiyo-e: A digital journey through Japan’s traditional art form
"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" includes an installation of Katsushika Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”
Toyota to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration ceremony
This is set to be the first time Toyota will donate to a U.S. inauguration ceremony.
South Korean temple pledges to return Buddha statue next spring
The Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue, which was taken from Kannonji Temple in Nagasaki Prefecture to South Korea by a South Korean thief ring
North Korean hacker group behind DMM Bitcoin’s cryptocurrency leak
A North Korean hacker group is believed to have planted a virus on the computer of an employee at Ginco — a company that was entrusted with the deposit and withdrawal of DMM Bitcoin’s virtual currency — through a fake job recruitment message sent via LinkedIn.
Step into ukiyo-e: A digital journey through Japan’s traditional art form
"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" includes an installation of Katsushika Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”
High levels of PFAS found in water from 44 private suppliers across Japan
The Self-Defense Forces facilities are believed to have become sources of PFAS contamination because they used firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals in the past.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense
Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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