Japan’s health policy sets an example to the world. 50 years, healthcare without restrictions.

Japan’s health policy sets an example to the world

For more than 50 years, Japan has offered healthcare without restrictions.

Mainstreaming universal health, with Japan at the helm as a long-lived nation.

Japan's early adoption of universal health coverage has attracted attention from around the world.

It is seen in may quarters as one of the foundations of an equitable society.

The key challenge is to ensure the funding and HR requirements are in place to make this approach sustainable.

Japan's early adoption of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has attracted worldwide attention, as it is the country with the longest healthy life expectancy in the world.

One of the reasons for this is that for more than half a century Japan has maintained a health insurance system that all permanent residents of Japan for more than three months are required to join, allowing people living in Japan to access appropriate healthcare services at a cost they can afford. This is characterized by a free-access system that allows patients to choose any healthcare provider, from small clinics to large hospitals with the latest medical facilities, and all medical services are provided at a uniform price anywhere in Japan.

In addition, the Japanese government has increased the number of medical schools, especially in rural areas, in order to increase the number of physicians under the One Prefecture, One Medical School policy approved by the Cabinet in 1973. This has also contributed to the high quality of healthcare services in the country.

Japan’s initiative for global health

With such a history and system of insured health care, Japan issued the Basic Policy for Peace and Health in 2015, and based on its own experience, has shown a commitment to strengthen the necessary support for mainstreaming universal health coverage in the international community.

At the G7 Ise-Shima Summit and G7 Kobe Health Ministers' Meeting held in 2016, Japan became the first G7 country to set the promotion of UHC as a major theme at the summit-level meeting. Japan expressed its commitment to play a leading role in international discussions by supporting the establishment of universal health coverage in Africa, Asia, and other regions in cooperation with the international community and organizations.

Subsequently, in 2017, Japan co-hosted the high-level forum on UHC with the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Government leaders from over 30 countries, as well as representatives and experts from international organizations, gathered to discuss how to promote universal health coverage in their countries, and adopted the Tokyo Declaration on UHC, which includes a commitment to accelerate efforts to achieve UHC by 2030.

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