Tag - care

 
 

CARE

The health ministry's free "catch-up vaccination" program for the human papillomavirus will be extended to March 2025 for the initial dose of the vaccine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2024
Deadline for ‘catch-up’ HPV vaccination program extended until March
The revised timeline allows eligible women to receive their first dose by the end of March 2025 and complete the remaining two within the following year.
Health minister Takamaro Fukuoka in an interview last week
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2024
Government aims to ease care worker shortages through wage hikes
Staff shortages at care facilities are "very serious," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said.
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.
The Tokyo District Court has found Nagumi Osada, 27, guilty of sexually abusing seven girls between the ages of 3 and 6.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2024
Former day care center worker given 14-year term for child sex abuse
The man was found guilty of abusing seven girls between the ages of 3 and 6 at day care centers where he worked and of filming the acts over a period of two years.
For patients using donanemab, it will cost them about ¥3.08 million per year. But national insurance coverage will have the government shoulder most of the cost.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 13, 2024
Japan OKs insurance coverage of Alzheimer's drug donanemab
Donanemab became the second Alzheimer's drug that targets causative deposited plaque in the brain to win the coverage after lecanemab.
Ex-nursery school worker Ayako Kaetsu denied injuring a girl leading to her death during her first trial hearing at the Yokohama District Court on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024
Ex-nursery worker pleads not guilty over girl's death in 2017
Public prosecutors said that the cause of the girl's death was a traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by strong pressure applied to the back of the head.
Since October, patients have been asked to pay more for brand-name drugs prescribed by medical institutions if the patents have expired.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024
Japan raises out-of-pocket costs for off-patent drugs
With the increases, the government aims to reduce health care costs by encouraging greater use of generic drugs.
Violin, a day care center for the elderly, is housed in a building that used be an office of the Kudokai crime syndicate in the city of Kitakyushu. It retains the original look of the Kudokai facility, with its thick steel-plated front door, glittering chandelier and marble floor.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 28, 2024
Former yakuza office repurposed to become elderly care facility
The building that houses Violin, a day care center for the elderly, was once one of the main facilities for the Kudokai syndicate.
Political parties are highlighting measures to reform the health care system for the elderly and the public pension system as the population ages.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2024
Parties highlight measures for working generation
The country's health care and public pension systems are being discussed ahead of the upcoming general election.
With projections indicating a population drop in Japan from around 125 million to 63 million by 2100, traditional solutions like immigration and labor reforms are unlikely to be effective in time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2024
Japan should master, not resist, its demographic destiny
Japan needs a strategic reorientation toward accepting and mastering its demographic changes rather than resisting them.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024
HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval
The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Tokyo on Tuesday as this year's routine vaccination program for people age 65 or older began.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024
Routine COVID-19 vaccinations begin for elderly in Japan
The program mainly targets people age 65 or older. It began on Tuesday and will run until March 31 next year.
A 13-year-old junior high school student receives a vaccine for the human papillomavirus at a hospital in Tokyo in 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 27, 2024
Deadline approaches for free HPV vaccine 'catch-up' campaign
The government's free vaccination program requires the first dose to be administered by the end of September to complete the three-dose series before the campaign ends.
A total of 509 patients in Japan had to give up on organ transplant operations last year because hospitals were unable to carry out such procedures, according to a health ministry survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2024
Hospital shortcomings forced 509 patients to abandon organ transplants
A lack of hospital staff and insufficient space in intensive care units needed for such operations were among the reasons.
From October, patients who choose the original versions of drugs with expired patents over their generic counterparts will shoulder higher costs.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2024
Out-of-pocket costs for off-patent drugs to rise in October
Moisturizing ointments and patches are among the 1,095 items to be affected by the revision.
The government is considering asking more people age 75 or over to pay 30% of their medical costs.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024
Japan may require more elderly people to foot 30% of their medical costs
Currently, those age 75 or older pay in principle 10%, while those with preretirement levels of income pay 30%.
A survey showed the use of terminal care and attended deaths at home kept increasing after surging in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024
Terminal care at home surged in Japan during COVID-19 pandemic
Cases of terminal care at home grew for clinics certified to meet standards for supporting home care, such as having doctors available to make house visits.
The Chinese government will remove the last remaining limits on overseas investments in the manufacturing sector starting from Nov. 1 and cut its list of areas that are restricted for foreign investors, according to a statement from the National Development and Reform Commission posted on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2024
China opens manufacturing, health care sectors to foreign money
Beijing will remove the last limits on overseas investments in the manufacturing sector from Nov. 1 and cut its list of areas that are restricted for foreign investors.
The third straight annual rise in medical fees reflected Japan's aging population and the increased use of advanced medical equipment and technologies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 4, 2024
Japan medical costs hit record high in fiscal year 2023
The third straight annual rise reflected the country's aging population and the increased use of advanced medical equipment and technologies.
The number of children on nursery waiting lists as of April dropped 4.2% from a year before, marking the lowest level since records began in 1994.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2024
Number of children on nursery waiting lists in Japan hits new low
The figure apparently reflects a decrease in the number of preschool children, stemming from the country's low birth rate.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’