Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Thursday that the government will release 50 million medical gloves from its stockpile to medical institutions starting next month. The move came after some medical institutions expressed concerns about supplies of medical products amid the Middle East crisis.
Novel Alzheimer’s therapies have been given to 19 pct of outpatients who applied for the medications, according to a recent survey at a Tokyo hospital. The lecanemab and donanemab therapies for early-stage Alzheimer’s patients are now clinically available under Japan’s national health insurance scheme, which curbs a sharp rise in out-of-pocket medical expenses. Despite the relatively low-cost availability, however, the drugs have eventually been administered to only 87 out of 456 applicants, the survey by a study group at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology showed.
Japanese health minister Kenichiro Ueno on Friday 3rd April urged the public to exercise caution as measles cases are increasing. The number of people infected with the disease in Japan this year had reached 152 as of March 22, the highest total for the same period since 2020.
Japanese health minister Kenichiro Ueno on Friday urged the public to exercise caution as measles cases are increasing. The number of people infected with the disease in Japan this year had reached 152 as of March 22, the highest total for the same period since 2020.
A nonprofit organization in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka has launched a crowdfunding campaign to continue its “doctor jet” service, which transports critically ill patients to medical facilities by air. Japan Critical Care Jet Network (JCCN), based in the city of Suita in Osaka, began the campaign on Monday to maintain the service for severely ill pediatric patients, with a goal of raising 200 million yen. The project has relied on donations, but funds have become depleted, making it difficult to continue operations without additional support. The doctor jet is an aircraft staffed with doctors and nurses that provides intensive care, including artificial respiration, while transporting patients to medical institutions, including those equipped with pediatric intensive care units.
Japan’s transport ministry has come up with draft guidelines aimed at reducing long waiting lines at women’s toilets at stations and commercial facilities. At a meeting of experts and businesspeople on Friday 13th March, the ministry presented its first draft guidelines for public restrooms in such places. The guidelines say it is important for both men and women to be able to use restrooms comfortably, and that the waiting times for each must be equal. They also say that the number of toilets for women needs to be higher than those for men at facilities where the number of male and female toilet users are almost the same.
Japan’s transport ministry has come up with draft guidelines aimed at reducing long waiting lines at women’s toilets at stations and commercial facilities. At a meeting of experts and businesspeople on Friday 13th March, the ministry presented its first draft guidelines for public restrooms in such places. The guidelines say it is important for both men and women to be able to use restrooms comfortably, and that the waiting times for each must be equal. They also say that the number of toilets for women needs to be higher than those for men at facilities where the number of male and female toilet users are almost the same.
Many evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture cite anxiety about a lack of medical services as a reason for their hesitation to return to their hometowns devastated by a severe nuclear accident following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. More than half of the population who lived in Futaba just before the triple disaster are still living outside their hometowns, although evacuation orders have been lifted in many places in the county. In Fukushima, the number of medical institutions has plunged since the disaster. Many of the 132 medical facilities that had operated in the prefecture have suspended operations, leaving only 47 currently in service.
On March 6, a specialized panel of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved adding “sleep disorders” to the list of medical department names that medical institutions can display on signboards and in advertisements. It is the first addition since 2008.
An advisory panel to Japan’s health minister decided Friday to allow public health insurance coverage for a gene therapy for muscular dystrophy beginning Feb. 20 and set the drug’s official price at about 304.97 million yen. Elevidys, a one-time treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in ambulatory patients aged 3-7, will become the country’s most expensive drug.
Barrier Free Japan