Citation
(2002), "The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 15 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2002.06215aag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfarehttp://www. mhlw.go.jp/english/
This interesting site (English version) provides access to information about the Japanese Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry. Of particular interest to readers of this journal is, of course, the information about Health, but many of the Labour and Welfare items are of interest. The home page offers the usual search and links to related sites service, but its main content is in three sections.
The first one, Topics, provides links to items of current interest. At the time of our visit, these were:
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Procurement information: basically, invitations to tender for the provision of equipment or materials. Whilst the descriptions are in English, the details are in Japanese.
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Importing or Bringing Medication into Japan for Personal Use: a description (in English) of the rules governing the taking in of medication (both drugs and quasi-drugs, such as vitamin pills), cosmetics (24 items per person!), and medical devices, such as massagers.
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Foods derived from Biotechnology: this section provides information about a range of issues connected with biotechnologically derived food products. Most of this is in English, such as information about products which have undergone the safety assessment but one or two items, such as a section on frequently asked questions about foods and food additives produced by recombinant DNA techniques are available in Japanese.
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A Joint Ministerial Statement from the ministers responsible for human resources development in APEC member economies, who met in Kumamoto, Japan, on 29-30 September, 2001 for the 4th APEC Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministerial Meeting. The main theme of the meeting was "Human resources development for both the advancement of society and economy and the sharing of prosperity with people in the context of globalisation". It was interesting to note that their priorities for human resources development are much the same as those in Western economies.
The second section provides information about the Ministry, through links to information about its organisation, white papers and reports, and statistics and other data. On the organisation side, of particular interest to readers of this journal are the descriptions of the Health Policy Bureau, the Health Service Bureau, the Department of National Hospitals, and the Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau. Following the link to white Papers and Reports gives access to an extremely comprehensive report on Social Security and National Life 1998-1999. In two volumes, this provides information about Social Security and National Life; Activities of Health and Welfare Administration; Social Security Systems Throughout the World (which has useful summary information about the systems for in France, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the USA, as well as Asian and Oceanic countries); Outline of the Systems and Basic Statistics. This latter section provides not only Japanese data, but also comparative data for other countries. Whilst its title may not sound appealing, this document made fascinating reading.
The third section, Policy Information, provides links to the policies of the various departments and bureaux in the Ministry. Again, of primary interest to readers, are the sections on the Health Policy Bureau, the Health Service Bureau, the Department of National Hospitals, and the Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau. However, readers may also be interested in the following:
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the Department of Employment Measures for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities;
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the Department of Health and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities;
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the Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly;
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the Health Insurance Bureau;
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the Industrial Safety and Health Department.
The "Related Sites" links provides access to a wealth of useful sites. It is subdivided into domestic and international sites. The domestic sites include the National Institute of Health Sciences, the National Institute of Public Health, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the International Medical Center of Japan, and the National Institute of Health Services Management. Although these are domestic sites, most of them are provided in English.
The international sites include links to international organisations, such as WHO, and links to sites in the USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, and The Netherlands.
Despite the ample evidence that the site can be used successfully in English, I had some qualms about using the search facility. However, it was available in English, and all the items returned in the several searches I did were given in English.
Overall, for anyone with an interest in healthcare in Japan, this seems to be an excellent site which not only provides information about the various agencies concerned with healthcare, but also provides access to a wealth of statistical data. It is easy to use, and all the links work quickly and effectively.