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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2022

Monkeypox isn’t looking like a COVID-sized threat

It's still early, but contact-tracing efforts and analysis of the virus's genome offer hope that this outbreak can be contained.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 23, 2022

What we know about long COVID so far

There is no universal definition of long COVID, but clues about causes and potential treatments are beginning to emerge.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 18, 2022

When Africans asked for COVID shots, they didn't get them. Now they don't want them.

The perception that COVID-19 doesn't pose a significant threat is common in Africa, as its population has suffered a fraction of the casualties seen in other countries.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 11, 2022

Test, test, test? Scientists question costly mass COVID-19 checks

The dominance of the relatively milder omicron variant and the availability of vaccines and treatments means governments should consider more strategic policies, some experts say.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2022

U.S. CDC casts doubt on COVID causing kids’ mysterious liver disease

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its most detailed report yet on nine cases of pediatric hepatitis in Alabama that have captured national attention.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 20, 2021

Most of the world’s vaccines likely won’t prevent infection from omicron

They do seem to offer significant protection against severe illness, but the consequences of rapidly spreading infection worry many public health experts.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 1, 2021

The race is on to trace the omicron variant

The pace of research highlights the pressure on governments and public health authorities to decide quickly whether they need to take strict steps to curb omicron's spread.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2021

Mass COVID-19 testing: Does it save lives?

Would Japan have seen far greater fatalities if it opted for mass COVID-19 testing like other countries rather than just targeting vulnerable group as it did?
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2021

Antibody cocktails to treat COVID-19 take off as delta surges in U.S.

As the delta variant surges, one drug cocktail is rapidly becoming a more common, even routine medical response to positive coronavirus tests in high-risk patients in the United States.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2021

A pandemic-weary world is facing a distressing reality check

Around the globe, people and governments are finding out that COVID-19 won't be thrashed into extinction, but is more likely to enter a long, endemic tail.
Many drugmakers that have entered the generic drug market are producing a wide range of medicine in small quantities, resulting in an inefficient system, the health ministry panel noted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 23, 2024

Health ministry panel urges consolidation in Japan's drug sector

In an effort to tackle an ongoing shortage of generic drugs, a health ministry panel says smaller drugmakers should merge with bigger companies.
Health ministry officials enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's plant in the city of Osaka for inspection on March 30.
JAPAN
May 29, 2024

Two more unexpected compounds found in beni kōji supplements

The two compounds are believed to have been created by contamination of blue mold.
Health ministry officials enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's plant in the city of Osaka on March 30.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 28, 2024

Dozens more deaths may be linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's supplements

The ministry has instructed Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to create a plan to carry out a probe into the causal relationships between the deaths and their products.
Amazon has launched an online service enabling customers in Japan to purchase prescription medications without having to visit physical pharmacies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 24, 2024

Amazon Pharmacy goes live in Japan

Through the new service, Japanese consumers will be able to obtain medications without having to visit physical pharmacies.
The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Longform
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports

At risk of sunburns and heatstroke, principals across Japan are trying to protect students' health as well as their athletic opportunities.
A doctor consults with a COVID-19 patient at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney in 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Excess deaths in Australia reveal COVID-19's long, lethal tail

Excess mortality — the increase above the expected toll had the pandemic not occurred — was 5% for Australia in 2023.
A man tests his lung function free of charge using a device provided by the Tokushima Prefectural Government at an event organized by companies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 19, 2024

Japan takes new steps against lifestyle-linked lung disease COPD

A health ministry survey highlighted 16,384 deaths from COPD in 2021, making it the ninth leading cause of death among men.
New gene-edited crops could address climate change and agricultural challenges; however, high regulatory barriers and safety concerns limit innovation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2024

It’s time to embrace a new era of gene-edited food

New crops may improve our health or help us mitigate and adapt to climate change.
A technician holds an agar plate containing bacteria cell culture in Bengaluru, India, in 2018.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 17, 2024

Superbugs death toll could swell by millions over coming years

Over 1 million people have died each year between 1990 and 2021 as a direct result of antimicrobial resistance, which occurs when germs become resistant to drugs.
A Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory in Osaka
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma sued in Taiwan over beni kōji products

A group filed the lawsuit with the Taipei District Court against six firms including a Taiwanese unit of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical and an importer in Taiwan.
A destroyed part of a building stands at Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it in Gaza City in April.
WORLD
Oct 11, 2024

U.N. inquiry accuses Israel of crime of 'extermination' in Gaza

Israel has not cooperated with the inquiry, which it says has an anti-Israel bias.
Displaced Palestinians ordered by the Israeli military to evacuate their neighborhoods in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Oct 22, 2024

War has knocked Gaza back to the 1950s, UNDP says

The war has devastated the Palestinian economy and left nearly all of Gaza's population in poverty, with health and education knocked back 70 years.
The health ministry’s report shows that the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who took their own lives in 2023 stood at 513, one fewer than last year's record of 514.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 29, 2024

Japan’s struggle with youth suicide sparks government initiatives

The health ministry’s report shows that the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who took their own lives remained alarmingly high.
Out of over 16,000 pharmaceutical products, 3,103 — or 18.5% — were either in limited or suspended supply as of the end of October, according to a recent survey. Of these, over 60% are generic drugs.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2024

Japan's generic drug shortage continues as flu season kicks off

The supply shortfall is due to a string of scandals that hit the generic drug industry in recent years as well as other structural problems.
People in the U.S. live with illness for 12.4 years on average — up from 10.9 years in 2000, according to a study published by the American Medical Association.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2024

Americans spend more years sick than rest of world, study finds

Mental and substance-use disorders are the biggest factors to blame in the U.S., along with musculoskeletal diseases.
Some of the same mistakes made during COVID-19 can be seen in the U.S. government's response to H5N1, which started in poultry before a new variant began infecting the nation’s dairy cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

Another pandemic is inevitable, and the U.S. isn't ready

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s top public health agencies also don’t inspire confidence.
Marriage boosts men’s health, but women’s outcomes depend on having an egalitarian partner, with caregiving gaps revealing ongoing gender inequalities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2025

Equitable marriages could save lives (and love)

Husbands live longer than single men. For wives, the calculation is more complex.
Far from making America great again, Donald Trump’s actions since assuming the presidency are giving a giant boost to China’s attempts at world leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2025

‘America First’ in action

Far from making America great again, Trump is giving a giant boost to China’s claims to world leadership.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear