The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is looking at giving subsidies to all hospitals and clinics across Japan to better deal with swine flu, up from the current 6,000 designated hospitals, ministry officials said Tuesday.
The ministry envisions earmarking ¥20.7 billion in the budget for fiscal 2010 beginning next March but is also considering executing part of the budget ahead of schedule to combat the H1N1 epidemic this fiscal year, the officials said.
The money would be used not only to improve medical facilities but also to reinforce quarantine systems and purchase vaccine.
About 100 quarantine officers and doctors would be added to beef up quarantine efforts, while the government plans to buy up all domestically produced vaccine for the new flu virus before it goes into circulation to prevent foulups at medical institutions.
One reason for increasing the recipients is that a government guideline on dealing with swine flu was revised in June requiring that patients with fever be examined, unlike the previous rule in which patients suspected of being infected with swine flu were supposed to contact designated hospitals.
The government would shoulder half the cost of upgrading equipment.
Hospitals that receive the subsidies would have to carry out such actions as increase the number of beds for patients whose swine flu symptoms become serious or put in place shields to prevent other patients from getting infected.
Swine flu vaccine under production in Japan will be ready for distribution at the end of October, health minister Yoichi Masuzoe said Tuesday.
Noting Japan needs 53 million doses, Masuzoe said the government plans to make up the expected shortfall through imports and is prepared to exempt domestic clinical trials in an emergency if the vaccine passes drug tests abroad.