Japan and the United States agreed Wednesday to take a leadership role in global health, including the fight against infectious diseases, according to Japan's health minister.
"We agreed that Japan and the United States cooperate in the event of health crises and take a leadership role in global health," Yasuhisa Shiozaki, the minister of health, labor and welfare, told reporters after meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in Washington.
As part of efforts to promote such partnership, the two ministers signed a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It was the first time that the two organizations have issued such a memorandum, Shiozaki said.
Shiozaki said he will visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston during his six-day trip to the United States through Sunday.