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Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 13, 2023

First over-the-counter birth control pill approved by U.S. regulators

The decision widens access to the drug by removing substantial barriers to obtaining oral contraception, such as inability to get a doctor’s appointment.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 11, 2023

Japan tries to turn page on eugenics policies, but related ideas persist

A 1,400-page report by parliament on forced sterilizations of people with disabilities sets out Japan's grim history with eugenics, but experts say the matter is far from closed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2023

Can we cure dementia before it starts?

Octogenarian and biologist Leroy Hood is trying to make the Elizabeth Holmes-ian dream of preventive medicine come true.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 2, 2023

Suicides in Singapore rise to 22-year high, reflecting 'unseen mental distress'

The suicide rates among young people age 10-29 and elderly people age 70-79 were particularly concerning, a local organization said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 23, 2023

Trapped in trash: Japan’s hidden hoarders

Behind closed doors, Japan has more houses filled with garbage than you might think — a phenomenon being exacerbated by shifting demographics and pandemic-induced social isolation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 19, 2023

China masses take COVID battle into own hands as Xi sits back

The past six weeks have forced citizens to suddenly figure out how to survive the pandemic on their own.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

Japan marks three years since first COVID case

With experts saying that the mortality rate for omicron is lower than that of seasonal influenza, the government is currently discussing reviewing the classification of COVID-19.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 15, 2023

China’s 60,000 COVID-19 death toll spurs calls for more data

China COVID-19 surge since December has spurred concern about variants; WHO chief stresses importance of transparency.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2023

Health ministry suggests restricting bulk drug purchases amid hoarding fears

The message follows reports of Chinese people in the country buying medicine in bulk and mailing it to friends and families back home.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 11, 2023

Super-resistant mosquitoes in Asia pose growing threat, study says

Health authorities commonly fog mosquito-infested areas with insecticide, and resistance has long been a concern, but the scale of the problem was not well understood.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2023

Health experts warily eye XBB.1.5, the latest omicron subvariant

The young version of the coronavirus could worsen what is already shaping up to be a rough COVID winter as people gather indoors and don't receive boosters that can ward off severe disease.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 30, 2022

European health officials oppose restrictions on travel from China

Europeans have high levels of protection against COVID-19, and health systems on the continent can handle the current load of infections, authorities have said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 28, 2022

How China’s ‘zero-COVID’ reversal is playing out on the ground

The change has brought an explosive surge of infections, drug shortages, and confusion and frustration among the population.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2022

COVID-19 cases on the rise as Japan enters the holiday season

JTB estimates that about 21 million people will travel domestically, up 16.7% from the previous year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2022

Doctor-staffed rapid response vehicles in wider use in Japan

By providing treatment to patients before they are taken to hospital, including in the vehicles, medical professionals can respond to sudden changes in their conditions.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 24, 2022

Sri Lanka's cancer patients struggle amid economic chaos

Hospitals across Sri Lanka are struggling to contend with severe drug shortages, which have worsened over the last eight months amid an economic crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2022

Flu epidemic declared in Tokyo and five other prefectures

Japan did not experience a flu season over the past two years and the number of people with immunity is believed to have fallen significantly.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 19, 2022

'I don't trust it:' Vaccine hesitancy lingers in China even as COVID cases surge

China's overall vaccination rate is above 90%, but the rate for boosted adults drops to 57.9%, and to 42.3% for people age 80 and above.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2022

China’s reopening poses new challenges for itself and the world

The situation in China is likely to get worse with the ending of the 'zero-COVID' policy before it gets better, slowing its economy even more.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 12, 2022

New technologies offer more accurate nature health checks

Researchers and companies are creating tools to track and protect biodiversity.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 6, 2022

Long ICU stays lead to extended misery for many COVID survivors

The mechanical ventilation, anti-inflammatory drugs and other tools of modern medicine that help people beat severe cases of COVID-19 often come with harrowing aftereffects.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 26, 2022

'I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki': Compelling confessions of an exhausted millennial

South Korean author Baek Sehee's bestselling mental health memoir is uncomfortably vulnerable and compulsively readable.
Flames reach upward along the edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, in June.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 23, 2023

As wildfires multiply, a new era of air pollution

The average American had already been exposed to 450 micrograms of smoke per cubic meter by early July, worse than from 2006-2022.
A survey by a health ministry research team has found that a significant proportion of doctors in Japan are at risk of death from overwork.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2023

Around 20% of doctors in Japan at risk of death from overwork

A survey showed that 20.4% of full-time doctors worked over 60 hours per week, exceeding the weekly legal working hours of 40 hours.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2023

Flu season already in full swing in Japan

The season has begun earlier than usual, with a number of schools either suspending individual classes or closing entirely.
Preliminary data suggests that updated COVID-19 boosters, which are matched to a previous variant known as XBB, could still offer protection against the new edition.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023

New Pirola COVID-19 variant shows value of booster shots

Data suggests the updated COVID-19 boosters, which are matched to the XBB variant, could still offer decent protection against the new edition.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2023

Syphilis cases in Japan top 10,000 for second year in 2023

It is unclear why new cases have shot up, reaching 10,000 two months earlier than last year.
Katalin Kariko (right) and Drew Weissman, the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries enabling the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2023

Nobel for mRNA vaccines shows the power of perseverance

Decades of work by Nobel Prize winners Kariko and Weissman made the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines possible.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person