ºÚÁÏÍø

July 3, 2024

On July 2, 2024, the Business Leaders’ Coalition for Global Health (led by Ken Shibusawa, CEO, Shibusawa and Company, Inc., hereinafter “the Coalition”), in which ºÚÁÏÍø is a member, visited Japan’s Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Keizo Takemi and handed him a “Request to Increase Support for Global Health through Corporate Activities and Official Development Assistance (ODA)”. Sayoko Sasaki, ºÚÁÏÍø’s Vice President in charge of Corporate Communications and Sustainability, also participated in the visit.

As the environment surrounding health care is changing dramatically across the globe, Japan “leading the world’s healthcare” as a forerunner in global health is one of the visions of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare indicated in “Healthcare 2035”. In its letter of request, the Coalition requested the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to take the following six actions:

1. In order to promote strengthening drug discovery infrastructure and environments for developing drug and other products, build up support for domestic and overseas R&D programs. This should be delivered by not focusing solely on contributing to the domestic market in Japan, but rather considering the needs of developing countries to leverage Japan’s R&D abilities to provide solutions for global health issues.
2. Establish and strengthen a governmental support mechanism to promote procurement of products and services from Japanese companies by international organizations in the field of global health.
3. Foster talents who can make significant contributions in the field of global health through developing domestic infectious disease control/crisis management systems. By utilizing these talents, fundamentally improve the international functions of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and promote international health diplomacy comprehensively and strategically with an All-Japan approach under a unified diplomatic policy.
4. Increase Japan’s total amount of ODA expenditure in the field of global health, while thoroughly implementing wise spending.
5. Encourage the government to clearly position its support for global health as a strategic pillar in diplomatic policy to establish offer-based cooperation aligned with the local activities of corporations in the field of global health.
6. Strategically expand contributions to international organizations in the field of global health while considering the opinions of Japanese companies. In particular, call for active pledges for financial contributions to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which will be holding the Vaccine Investment Strategy (VIS) meeting between the end of this year and next year. In addition, strengthen Japan's communication capability in international organizations.

ºÚÁÏÍø’s initiatives for improving access to medicines toward the elimination of NTDs and malaria go beyond the framework of CSR activities, and instead aim to create long-term value and social impact based on our corporate concept, human health care (hhc). We aim to contribute to relieving anxiety over health and reducing health disparities of people at risk of contracting neglected tropical diseases and those suffering from diseases by strengthening our global partnerships.

About the Business Leaders’ Coalition for Global Health

The Business Leaders’ Coalition for Global Health (supporting and actively working in the fields of healthcare, especially public health and infectious disease control), led by Ken Shibusawa (CEO, Shibusawa & Company, Inc.) is a volunteer organization of Japanese Companies and others contributing to the field of global health. It is composed of executives from a wide variety of fields, including not only the healthcare sector, such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices, but also finance, trading, digital, supply chain, and more. Haruo Naito, ºÚÁÏÍø’s CEO, is a member. 
The mission of the Business Leaders’ Coalition for Global Health is to create a future where everyone has access to the medical care they need*¹ and people around the world are healthy.
Sharing the same vision of "working together to support the healthy lives of people around the world from Japan*²,” a group of interested companies has come together to promote global health action, and set the following four missions:

1. Place global health at the heart of international cooperation

2. Clearly realize the potential of Japanese companies and take the lead

3. Build the Japan brand

4. Nurture and produce human resources who can thrive on the global stage

Official website: 

*¹ This does not refer to medical care in the narrow meaning, but rather to a comprehensive health foundation that includes health and medical care. There is need for adequate access to appropriate medical care.
*² "Made With Japan" is a collaboration between governments, companies, academia, and civil society both in Japan and overseas.