JAPAN / Science & Health / A MATTER OF HEALTH

Language barriers at Japanese medical institutions put foreign patients at risk: expert

The lack of language support at hospitals is impacting the health of foreign residents, experts say. They are calling for more local-level initiatives to make medical interpreters available for non-Japanese patients. | ISTOCK

By Tomoko Otake
Staff Writer

Apr 19, 2017

Here's a little-known, unnerving truth about health care in Japan: for non-Japanese, the death rate is higher than that for Japanese.

According to the health ministry, the age-adjusted mortality rates for Japanese men and women stood at 544.3 and 274.9 per 100,000 people, respectively, in 2010, the latest year for which statistics were available. In contrast, the rates for non-Japanese men and women were 674.4 and 349.6, markedly higher for both sexes.

The lack of detailed statistics, such as the number of deaths by nationality, defies further analysis of the gap in health outcomes.

Language barriers at Japanese medical institutions put foreign patients at risk: expert

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