Japan plans to raise overall government-set medical service fees by 2.22 pct in fiscal 2026, informed sources said Tuesday. The government is set to increase the main portion of the fees, which mainly covers labor costs for medical workers, by an annual average of 3.09 pct over the two years from fiscal 2026, which starts next April.
Japan’s ruling parties agreed Friday to seek to reduce the country’s medical costs by 188 billion yen per year, by revising the eligibility of certain drugs for insurance coverage. The agreement was struck between the policy chiefs of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai). The government plans to hammer out the details of the revised medical insurance system for pharmaceuticals based on the two parties’ agreement for implementation in the fiscal year beginning next April.
Shimon Sakaguchi, distinguished honorary professor at the University of Osaka, who won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, underscored the significance of medical science at a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden on Saturday.
With his Nobel prize win, Sakaguchi said at a press conference, “I hope…our society will recognize the importance of medical science and medical research.” Sakaguchi attended the press conference with his two co-winners, ahead of the award ceremony to be held on Wednesday local time.
Yohei Sasakawa, honorary chair of the Nippon Foundation and WHO goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, visited a leprosy colony in New Delhi where up to 250 residents live, urging about 30 accompanying Japanese business representatives to support efforts against the disease. India accounts for roughly 60 percent of the world’s new leprosy cases, and the Sasakawa Health Foundation organized the visit to raise awareness among Japanese residents in the country. Although effective treatments exist, people affected by leprosy in India still face deep-rooted social exclusion and often form or join isolated colonies—some of the roughly 800 believed to exist nationwide—to escape discrimination tied to the caste system
A Japanese government subcommittee on public health insurance on Thursday basically agreed to ask patients for additional payment for prescription medicines whose ingredients and effects are similar to over-the-counter drugs while maintaining insurance coverage for them.
The five-year survival rate for male and female patients in Japan who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2012 and 2015 came to 10.7 percent and 10.2 pct, respectively, the lowest among all cancer types except for childhood cancers, the National Cancer Center said in a survey report on Tuesday.
The Niigata prefectural government said Sunday that an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed at a poultry farm in the city of Tainai. This is the fourth outbreak of avian influenza at a poultry farm in Japan this season and the second confirmed case in Niigata.
The prefectural government of Niigata, central Japan, said Tuesday that it has confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm in the city of Tainai.It marks the third bird flu outbreak confirmed at a poultry farm in Japan this season. A total of 630,000 egg-laying chickens at the Niigata farm will be culled. According to the prefectural government, the farm reported abnormalities, including an increase in the number of chicken deaths, on Monday morning.
Influenza outbreaks have started in Japan in late September, earlier than usual, partly because of increases in cross-border travel. According to the health ministry, the number of flu patients reported by regularly monitored medical institutions across the country in the week to Oct. 26 stood at 6.29 per facility. By prefecture, Okinawa, southernmost Japan, topped the list, with 19.40, followed by three neighboring Tokyo–Kanagawa, with 11.88, Chiba, with 11.82, and Saitama, with 11.73.
New Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces a difficult challenge in maintaining the quality of the country’s medical and nursing care services while lowering related expenses, amid an aging population. Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), the new coalition partner to Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has called for lowering social security premiums for working people. But this requires reforms that are expected to increase the burden on society, including the elderly, as a whole. Since medical and nursing care services are offered at fixed prices set by the state, many service providers are struggling to cope with rapid inflation and are operating at a loss.
Barrier Free Japan