Japan’s vision for health care in 2035

Author

Miyata, Hiroaki and Ezoe, Satoshi and Hori, Manami and Inoue, Machiko and Oguro, Kazumasa and Okamoto, Toshihisa and Onishi, Kensuke and Onozaki, Kohei and Sakakibara, Takeshi and Takeuchi, Kazuhisa and Tokuda, Yasuharu and Yamamoto, Yuji and Yamazaki, Mayuka and Shibuya, Kenji and Health Care 2035 Advisory Panel}

Abstract

Over the past half century Japan has made remarkable achievements in good population health at low cost, with increased equity.1 However, a demographic shift towards rapid ageing, the growth of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and advances in medical technology have led to great changes in health-care needs. In the Lancet 2011 Series on Japan: Universal Health Care at 50 Years, three major challenges to Japan's health system were identified: sustainability, governance, and responsiveness.2 In that Series, several reforms were proposed to assure the sustainability and equity of Japan's health accomplishments: implementation of human-security, value-based reforms; redefinition of the roles of central and local governments; improvements in the quality of health care; and a commitment to global health.2