Tag - medicine

 
Menu
Search
 
July 07, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

MEDICINE

A recent study shows promise for a personalized mRNA vaccine to prevent pancreatic cancer recurrence, offering hope for patients and highlighting the potential of tailored cancer treatments.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2025
Pancreatic cancer vaccine shows hope. Make the investment.
When researchers offer data suggesting a personalized vaccine might be able to keep the cancer at bay for years, it’s worth paying attention to.
Upper House Budget Committee chief Yosuke Tsuruho (right) and his Lower House counterpart, Jun Azumi, meet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025
Medical cap fumble paves way for unprecedented second revision of fiscal budget
While there have been cases of bills returning to the Lower House after amendments in the Upper House, it has never happened with the budget.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday about his decision to cancel plans to raise the ceiling on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Ishiba cancels planned August medical expense cap hike
It is the third time the Ishiba administration has changed its policy on the high-cost medical care system.
Obstetrician and gynecologist Song Mihyon
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2025
Doctor urges awareness of a birth control pill covered by health insurance
“I think doctors need to tell their patients that a birth control pill covered by health insurance exists,” Song Mihyon said.
Foster City, California’s Gilead is laser-focused on HIV and is seeking an actual cure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025
Gilead's Japan head says nation can be among first to end HIV epidemic
The pharmaceutical powerhouse has drugs that disrupt the transmission of the virus, one of which has been approved for prevention in Japan.
Kesa Hatamoto, a 102-year-old Japanese woman who is recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest pharmacist, speaks during an interview on Jan. 28 in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025
At 102, world's oldest pharmacist celebrates her calling
"There's nothing happier than having a job for a lifetime. I want to continue my career forever," says Kesa Hatamoto.
The health ministry issued a business improvement order to a medical clinic in Fukuoka, saying a range of stem cell treatments it offers violate the law on the safety of regenerative medicine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 5, 2025
Fukuoka clinic issued business improvement order over stem cell treatments
The clinic offers various stem cell treatments without the prior submission of its plans to the authorities, the health ministry said.
Blackstone said it agreed to purchase 60% of Tokyo-based CMIC, a contract research organization, in a deal that values the company in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 3, 2025
Blackstone buys Japan drug trial firm, adding to private equity health deals
Blackstone has been increasingly active in Japan’s life science sector amid a wider buyout boom in the country.
The government will raise the out-of-pocket expense cap for expensive medical treatments this August as planned, but will reconsider plans for further increases, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 2, 2025
Japan to reconsider medical expense cap hike plan: Ishiba
The expense ceiling hike is slated to be conducted in three stages from this year to 2027.
Some 230 million people globally thought to be affected by long COVID. The effects range from mild to disabling, and there are no proven diagnostic tests or treatments.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2025
'Going mad': Lack of data plagues Asia's long COVID patients
Some 230 million people are thought to be affected by long COVID — defined as symptoms persisting for three months or more after the initial infection.
Keio University in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The university's ethics committee has approved clinical research that would lead to the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 28, 2025
Keio University ethics panel OKs uterus transplant clinical trial
The university will consider whether to carry out the research, which would be the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
A sign directs people to a measles testing center in Gaines County, Texas, on Tuesday. A measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico is sparking fears of worsening public health crisis in the United States. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2025
Texas measles outbreak was entirely avoidable
"It’s more contagious than COVID, more contagious than the flu, more contagious than Ebola,” says Paul Offit, of Philadelphia's Vaccine Education Center.
Researchers from Osaka University (center) have developed a new method to test for pancreatic cancer.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 26, 2025
Osaka University develops new method for pancreatic cancer testing
If put into practical use, the method would make it easier to detect pancreatic cancer early, which is often very difficult.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of covering up a patient's murder at Michinoku Kinen Hospital in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2025
Former Aomori hospital head and doctor arrested over alleged murder coverup
The two brothers are accused of issuing a false death certificate saying the patient died of pneumonia when he was actually killed by another patient.
Leaders of patients' groups submit signatures opposing the move by the government to raise the medical copayment ceiling on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Feb 14, 2025
Japan to rethink medical copayment hike amid patient outcry
Many patients, especially those undergoing costly but effective cancer therapy, say a hike might force them to abandon their treatments.
Volunteer Nhoun Niyok shows villagers how to use a mosquito net to prevent malaria in Cambodia's northeastern Mondulkiri province on Jan. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 14, 2025
Cambodia nears Khmer Rouge survivor's dream of eradicating malaria
The hope is for zero cases this year — a remarkable turnaround for a country that was formerly an epicenter of multi-drug resistant strains.
Too many people die from treatable diseases in places with little access to health care. To prevent this from happening, affordability, availability and acceptability considerations must be at the core of medical products' lifecycles, starting with R & D.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2025
To stop preventable deaths, start with the fundamentals
Treatable diseases like malaria are still causing too many deaths in places with poor health care. To prevent these, accessibility must be baked into medical development.
By cancer type, the 10-year survival rate was 57.9% for stomach cancer, the most common cancer among the patients surveyed.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2025
Japan's 10-year cancer survival rate stands at 54% in latest survey
The rate was 57.9% for stomach cancer, the most common cancer among patients surveyed.
A participant in a research study to test a new device to prevent pregnancy and HIV infection, leaves a clinic in Vulindlela, South Africa, on Wednesday. A U.S. Agency for International Development-funded trial shut down, leaving a medical device in her body that needed to be removed right away.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 9, 2025
Trump administration cuts put medical progress at risk, researchers say
The new policy, which takes effect Monday, will cap "indirect funds” for costs like buildings, utilities and support staff at 15% and is aimed at saving $4 billion.
A health employee prepares a malaria vaccine in Abobo, a district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in July 2024.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 6, 2025
U.S. aid cuts come at deadly moment for malaria control
Funding of up to $1 billion a year is now frozen as part of U.S President Donald Trump's plan to axe foreign aid.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Tokyo and Kyoto feature among top ‘noctourism’ destinations
Tokyo ranked second after New York and ahead of Dubai and Singapore in a ranking of the top global cities for nighttime tourism.
Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 30.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER