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JAPAN / Society
Oct 9, 2020

Suicide spike in Japan shows mental health toll of COVID-19

The numbers hint at what may be going on around the world as countries grapple with the fallout from mass unemployment and social isolation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 4, 2020

COVID-19 long-term toll signals billions in health care costs ahead

Late in March, Laura Gross, 72, was recovering from gall bladder surgery in her Fort Lee, New Jersey, home when she became sick again.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2019

For countries to grow, health care must come first, WHO's Africa director says on TICAD sidelines

Matshidiso Moeti has been one of Africa's foremost caretakers for more than three decades.
JAPAN
May 8, 2019

A century later, Spanish flu pandemic still holds valuable lessons for Japanese and global health experts

On Oct. 26, 1918, just over two weeks before the end of World War I, readers of The Japan Advertiser, as The Japan Times was named at the time, woke up to the headline "Thousands Dying From Influenza Throughout the World," and an accompanying article detailing the havoc it was wreaking in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2018

Aspiration over action in Japan's approach to health innovation

Policy actions will be required to enable Japan to harness its technical strengths in the life sciences, robotics and digital innovations to become a global hub for pursuing next-level health innovations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2016

It’s time to address the lifestyle challenges affecting health in Asia

Poor nutrition and obesity pose a severe public health challenge across large parts of Asia.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2015

Scrutinize health insurance reform

The national government needs to provide sufficient support to prefectural governments, which will be tasked to play a larger role in maintaining the nation's health insurance system.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2015

Public health challenges in the Middle East

Continuing conflicts in the Mideast, especially Syria and Iraq, have prompted a substantial emigration of doctors, adding to existing problems of too few qualified health care personnel.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2014

How about better health through good choices?

The premise that health is the product of medicine leads the U.S. government to believe it can deliver health by judiciously distributing preventive or therapeutic medicines rather than disseminate cost-effective public health information.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 12, 2013

U.S. health-insurance enrollments rise as website improves

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that the ailing health insurance website was improving thanks to "relentless" efforts to work out the bugs, and she cited an uptick in enrollment as evidence that the program is back on track after a false start.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2013

Brain drain worsens health care crisis in Africa

The yearly exodus from Africa of up to 20,000 physicians and nurses to industrialized countries is exacerbating health problems on the continent.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2013

White House delays health care rule that businesses insure workers

The mandate requiring U.S. employers to provide insurance for workers will not take effect until 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2013

Work: secret to good health

The next time you think your job is killing you, consider recent evidence that suggests the opposite — by sticking with it your job may be saving your life.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 3, 2012

Health: It's in 'tokuho' label

Kirin Beverage Co.'s hit beverage Mets Cola has gained Consumer Affairs Agency recognition as "tokuho," which is short for "tokutei hokenyou shokuhin," or foods with special healthy qualities.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 16, 2004

Health care puzzles

Broad coverage? The Japanese health insurance system is designed to cover you anywhere in Japan, though prices vary from region to region.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2023

Public opposition grows over My Number and health insurance merger

Resistance to the integration of the two cards has been driven by reports of errors and privacy breaches when the cards have been linked.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 9, 2023

How wildfire smoke impacts human health

Wildfire exposure is bad for the human body no matter how healthy a person is or how long they’re exposed to it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Sep 24, 2022

Around the world, women are sacrificing their health to shield families from spiking costs

From Kenya and Lebanon to Sri Lanka and Britain, rising living costs triggered by the Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic are widening gender inequalities, say women's rights campaigners.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 5, 2022

What to say to a coworker who's having a mental health issue

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and with the pandemic taking a toll on mental health globally, it's important to know how to support a coworker who might be struggling.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 31, 2022

Race for monkeypox vaccines exposes global health inequality

Despite efforts to set up an equitable distribution mechanism for vaccines, some marginalized groups may face a longer wait than others.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2022

U.S. monkeypox response repeats COVID-19 mistakes

Health officials, with the monkeypox outbreak, are again failing to understand that a new epidemic may not take the same course as the last one.
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2025

The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan

AI chatbots are becoming stand-ins for pets and partners — offering comfort, connection and raising new concerns.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington on July 29.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2025

Draft of Trump’s health blueprint avoids industry crackdown

The draft was dated Aug. 11, but could still see changes before it’s finalized, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Shitsui Hakoishi, 107, works with researcher Yasumichi Arai (left) while her younger brother, Hidemasa, looks on. Researchers like Arai believe the healthy and active Hakoishi's cells may hold the secret to living a long life.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Jan 27, 2024

Living until 100, if not forever, in good health

Immortality may be out of reach, but can a slew of research projects prolong our natural aging process?
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, shelter in a tent camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip this month.
WORLD
Mar 19, 2024

Displaced Palestinians in Gaza face compounding health risks

While the U.N. warns of famine, humanitarian officials say fast-deteriorating sanitation conditions are making people even more vulnerable.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Tokyo office. The company reported more cases of hospitalization linked to its dietary supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 2, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma's health supplements tied to 157 hospitalizations

The figure reflects an increase from the 114 hospitalization cases that the company said were linked to its products containing red yeast rice.
Health ministry officials enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Osaka plant on Saturday for inspection.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2024

Cause of Kobayashi Pharma health scare still unclear as probe continues

A natural compound derived from blue mold has been detected in the firm's beni kо̄ji supplements, but the substance's health impacts are still unclear.
Crosses adorn a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, 2022.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2024

U.S. surgeon general declares gun violence a 'public health crisis'

The advisory by Vivek Murthy, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, is the first such major report on gun violence from a surgeon general.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell