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COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2010

Drug use is fueling AIDS epidemic in Russia

NEW YORK — Russia has one of the world's most serious epidemics of injection drug use, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS. It is estimated that Russia has 2 million injecting drug users (IDUs), 60 to 70 percent of whom have HIV-related illnesses. In the past decade, the number...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2010

Easing of visa rules paves way for biggest tourist group from China

The Japan National Tourism Organization has landed its biggest tourist group ever — 10,000 Chinese employees and their relatives — in a welcome piece of news for the government as it eases visa rules on individual Chinese tourists starting Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 12, 2010

'Child of sin' finds friends worldwide

Three heart attacks since January, having difficulties with his parents and living in fear that his visa will expire is just the beginning of what 24-year-old Takumi Tanaka is coping with.
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2010

Diabetes epidemic the price of China's growth

China has a serious problem with diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions in the country. This is the conclusion of a group of researchers from Tulane University and colleagues from China, whose findings were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Type 2 diabetes accounts...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 28, 2010

Sea change: Can science, sense turn the tide?

In "The Tempest," William Shakespeare writes of a human body deep beneath the waves undergoing "a sea-change into something rich and strange," transmuting into coral and pearls.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2009

Children's rights treaty turns 20

Acknowledging that children often require special care and protection, and pushing for the world to recognize that children have human rights, in 1989 world leaders moved to draw up a special convention for people under the age of 18. The resulting Convention of the Rights of the Child spelled out the...
COMMENTARY
Dec 18, 2009

Illegal wall exacerbates disaster for Gazans

NEW YORK — Collusion between Egypt and the United States in building a wall separating Egypt from Gaza not only threatens Gazans' health and quality of life, already seriously deteriorating because of the de facto Israeli blockade, but also violates international law.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 22, 2009

Unions give athletes solidarity, provide more protection

Second in a two-part series
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2009

Licensing of clinical psychologists

Regarding the June 7 editorial, "One (suicide) every 15 minutes": The current worldwide recession is of course impacting Japan, too, so unless very proactive and well-funded local and nationwide suicide prevention programs and initiatives are taken immediately, it is very difficult to foresee as achievable...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2009

Masks with ostrich antibodies aid swine flu fight

Researcher Yasuhiro Tsukamoto's flock of 500 ostriches is being enlisted into the global fight against swine flu by exploiting Japan's practice of wearing masks in public to ward off allergies and colds.
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2009

New, social welfare card

A panel of the health and welfare ministry has written a basic plan to introduce a social security card, an IC card that will integrate the functions of the pension booklet, health insurance card and nursing care insurance card. The ministry hopes to introduce the card in fiscal 2011, with demonstration...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 10, 2009

Swine flu highlights pig industry's fatal flaw

As office workers all over Japan tuck into their lunchtime katsudon (pork cutlet with rice), I'm sure many of them joke about the H1N1 swine flu that threatened to become a pandemic (an epidemic affecting a large region). At the time of writing, the World Health Organization hasn't classed it as a pandemic;...
COMMENTARY
May 6, 2009

China and Taiwan try a practical approach

LOS ANGELES — On the surface of things, it might not seem like such a big deal. Taiwan is to get recognition as an observer at an important world health meeting in Geneva to be held later this month. But in the context of Asian diplomatic history, it is a big deal.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2009

Panel proposals fall short

People's trust in the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has fallen due to various problems such as a shortage of doctors, especially obstetricians, pediatrics and emergency specialists, irregularities related to pension premium payments records and confusion linked to the health insurance system for...
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2009

Restricting online drug sales

The health and welfare ministry has plans to prohibit in principle mail-order and Internet sales of some drugs from June 1. Such sales reportedly totaled about ¥80 billion in 2007. It is true that using these methods to sell drugs can pose safety issues. On the other hand, some people benefit from mail-order...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 8, 2009

Looking forward to a 200-year-old human

If you believe everything you read about the health-giving properties of the traditional Japanese diet — and if you were to eat traditionally every day — you might expect to live to at least 150, in rude health.
LIFE
Mar 8, 2009

U.S. shows way to medical apologies

So you think apologizing is the norm in Japan? Well, think again — especially with regard to its venerable medical profession.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Feb 6, 2009

Getting a glimpse behind the mask

It happens in Japanese cities every winter and spring — the mask attack.
Reader Mail
Jan 11, 2009

Losing patience with U.S. system

George Will's Jan. 4 article, "The increasing costs of longevity," simply underscores the ignorance most Americans have of both alternative health-care systems and the power of special interest lobbies. The 15 percent or so of Americans who listen to National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2008

Pregnant Afghan women face deadly odds

KABUL — In Badakhshan, Afghanistan, for every 100,000 births, 6,500 young mothers die. This is a record unrivaled anywhere in the world. In other parts of Afghanistan, too, the rates of maternal mortality continue to be among the highest in the world.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2008

Reviewing medical treatment

The trial of an obstetrician of a Fukushima prefectural hospital, where a 29-year-old woman died of blood loss during a Caesarean operation in December 2004, serves as a reminder that doctors' efforts to save lives sometimes lead to death. As the level of medical treatment advances and becomes more complex,...
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2008

Shortsighted approach to hazard

It is claimed in the Sept. 6 article "Maker admits using non-edible rice in food" that the health ministry "said there have been no reports of health hazards" in connection with the situation. But isn't the health ministry being a little shortsighted? If any of these products contain carcinogens, as...

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers