Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2007
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA DISBURSEMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2005 > Chapter 2 Details about Japan's ODA > Section 2. Measures for Each of the Priority Issues > 2. Support for Social Development > (2) Health and Welfare
(2) Health and Welfare
<Record for FY2006>
For the health and welfare sector, Japan provided approximately ¥18.1 billion in grant aid (to 36 countries). Through technical cooperation, Japan accepted 4,841 trainees, and dispatched 675 experts and 337 JOCV.
<Current Status>
In many developing countries, a large number of people suffer from a lack of basic health services that are usually available in developed countries. As immunization and environmental sanitation have not been set in place, more than 30,000 children die from preventable causes such as infectious diseases, nutritional disorders, and diarrhea every day. Moreover, more than 500,000 women lose their lives every year due to the lack of skilled-birth attendants like midwives or accessing emergency obstetric care while pregnant or during delivery.29 The MDGs list three objectives for the health and welfare sector: to reduce child mortality, to improve maternal health, and to combat the spread of infectious and other diseases.
See Section 2 for details on measures to combat infectious diseases
<Japan's Efforts>
In June 2005 Japan held the High-Level Forum on Health MDGs in Asia and the Pacific. At this conference, Japan announced the Health and Development Initiative (HDI), which aims to provide US$5 billion over the five-year period from FY2005 to FY2009. Based on this initiative, Japan has provided comprehensive support which contributes to health systems strengthening. This has been done through measures to tackle infectious diseases, maternal and child health measures, strengthening health systems, as well as cross-sectoral assistance. These examples include efforts to support gender equality, education, water and sanitation, infrastructure development like building hospitals, and soon. In 2006 Japan launched a task force on global health comprised of MOFA, related government ministries and agencies, JICA, JBIC, and others. This task force aims at proceeding with an effective combination of bilateral and multilateral assistance in a more integrated and consistent manner. Up to the present, the stakeholders in the task force have undertaken information exchanges and consultations regarding subjects such as countermeasures to avian and pandemic influenza, as well as modalities for health and medical issues in Africa. Regarding polio control in particular, Japan has drawn up a policy to enhance support to four countries, including Nigeria, which have not achieved the eradication of polio. Japan is currently implementing assistance for polio vaccine distribution through UNICEF.
● Support related to Health Systems Strengthening
The focus of support to developing countries by the international community has been centered on direct disease controls, such as efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Japan believes that, along with these efforts, health systems strengthening is essential for addressing the extensive challenges in health issues. Japan has provided assistance like adjusting health systems to the local conditions in developing countries, strengthening regional health systems, enhancing preventive action, fostering human resources in health sector and developing health infrastructure. Such efforts are designed to promote capacity building and to create environments where people are able to secure and improve their own health, by equitably providing basic health services to a greater number of people.
In some countries in Africa, the managerial capacity building of health administrative officials in local regions has come to be a pressing challenge following the increase of local independent revenue sources due to decentralization and direct budget support. In Tanzania, systems relating to the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of regional health programs were carried out by utilizing technical assistance such as information management, as well as data suited to the actual conditions in the region. For this, the Morogoro Region was selected as a model district, with this project targeting regional and district health administrative officials.30 This received high praise from the Government of Tanzania as an exemplary model of a regional health administration system.
● Support for Maternal and Child Health
Issues surrounding maternal and child health encompass a wide range of aspects from health care services, health care systems, and public health to the social environment that surrounds women who are to carry and nurture children. In developing countries, especially least developed countries (LDCs), urgent attention is needed to improve the health of pregnant and nursing women, reduce infant mortality and illnesses, and promote measures against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
To improve the health of pregnant and nursing mothers, Japan provides assistance in training personnel engaged in maternal and child health care services such as midwives and nurses, developing emergency obstetrical care systems, and securing physical and social access to emergency obstetrical care facilities (e.g. road development and the creation of a social environment in which women can receive proper obstetrical treatment). On top of this, Japan works toward providing assistance in order to reduce unwanted pregnancies by providing education and information on family planning and birth control methods, distributing contraceptives, and promoting the education of adolescents. As an example, in FY2006 Japan began the Project for Improving Maternal and Child Health Service in Rural Areas in Cambodia in Kampong Cham Province. This project is aimed at improving health management related to childbirth at the local level through fostering health care providers, creating a cooperative system with traditional midwives, and awareness-raising activities for local residents.
To reduce infant mortality and diseases, Japan has provided assistance for vaccination against diseases that could lead to deaths of infants such as polio, measles, and tetanus, as well as malaria control by distributing mosquito nets etc. Assistance is also provided for developing basic health services which aim to promote universal usage of Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) to combat childhood diarrhea in children.
See Part I, Chapter 1, Section 2 and Part II, Chapter 2, Section 2 for details on distributing mosquito nets
Japan's Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbooks has Settled in Overseas
The diffusion of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbooks which make use of Japan's experience has brought about an improvement in the infant mortality rate in Indonesia. In the Palestine Territory* Japan is supporting the improvement of maternal and child health services and raising awareness for maternal and child health, as well as assisting with the creation and dissemination of the first Arabic language maternal and child handbooks. The aim of these efforts is to improve maternal and child health throughout the entire Palestinian Territory. Japan has also supported the development of the Maternity Passbook in Morocco** and disseminates them throughout the entire country as a means of managing women's health. The MCH Handbooks and Maternity Passbook provide the holders themselves and health care providers with information needed to receive appropriate services. They also encourage women to personally take part in planning for health management, and are useful in improving maternal and child health in developing countries.
* Project for Improving Reproductive Health with a Special Focus on Maternal and Child Health in Palestine
** Project for Improvement of Maternal Health Care in the Rural Area
The first maternity passbooks in Arabic for Palestine
The cover of an Arabic maternity passbook
Measures to Combat Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS
When it comes to measures to combat mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, these must be addressed from both the prevention side and the treatment side. Taking into account access to health services and information, Japan carries out support that draws on multiple facets and comprehensive approaches. Examples of this are measures to combat infectious diseases and Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) activities for health management relating to pregnancy and childbirth, among others.
As exemplified by the Project to Develop Maternal and Child Health Facilities in Majunga Province implemented in Madagascar in FY2005 and other efforts, Japan is working on bilateral cooperation with the aim to improve mother and child health, as well as fostering and upgrading the technology of mother and child health care providers.
The diffusion of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbooks which make use of Japan's experience has brought about an improvement in the infant mortality rate in Indonesia. In the Palestine Territory* Japan is supporting the improvement of maternal and child health services and raising awareness for maternal and child health, as well as assisting with the creation and dissemination of the first Arabic language maternal and child handbooks. The aim of these efforts is to improve maternal and child health throughout the entire Palestinian Territory. Japan has also supported the development of the Maternity Passbook in Morocco** and disseminates them throughout the entire country as a means of managing women's health. The MCH Handbooks and Maternity Passbook provide the holders themselves and health care providers with information needed to receive appropriate services. They also encourage women to personally take part in planning for health management, and are useful in improving maternal and child health in developing countries.
* Project for Improving Reproductive Health with a Special Focus on Maternal and Child Health in Palestine
** Project for Improvement of Maternal Health Care in the Rural Area
The first maternity passbooks in Arabic for Palestine
The cover of an Arabic maternity passbook
Measures to Combat Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS
When it comes to measures to combat mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, these must be addressed from both the prevention side and the treatment side. Taking into account access to health services and information, Japan carries out support that draws on multiple facets and comprehensive approaches. Examples of this are measures to combat infectious diseases and Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) activities for health management relating to pregnancy and childbirth, among others.
As exemplified by the Project to Develop Maternal and Child Health Facilities in Majunga Province implemented in Madagascar in FY2005 and other efforts, Japan is working on bilateral cooperation with the aim to improve mother and child health, as well as fostering and upgrading the technology of mother and child health care providers.
● Collaborations with the United States, NGOs, and Other Entities
Japan is promoting collaborations with various aid-related organizations regarding assistance for the health sector. Since 2002 Japan has been carrying out collaborations with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for efficient and effective implementation of assistance based on the US-Japan Partnership for Global Health. In terms of concrete contents, it includes personal exchanges between JICA and USAID, as well as the implementation of project formulation studies and evaluations jointly by both entities. As for collaboration in actual project implementation, there has been the "AIDS/infectious disease countermeasures and family planning" support which was conducted in Senegal in 2005. As part of this, youth counseling centers were established and awareness-raising activities were conducted across the entire country. This was accomplished through a JICA technical cooperation project and USAID, as well as cooperation between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and international NGOs. Furthermore, the three parties of JICA, USAID, and UNFPA have been providing contraceptive devices, with this support scheduled to last until 2007. In addition, the Japan-US partnership is expanding in other ways, such as the support for AIDS and infectious disease countermeasures in Zambia and Tanzania, the support for malaria countermeasures in Nigeria, and the support for AIDS and tuberculosis countermeasures in Cambodia.
MOFA and NGOs have been holding meetings on global scale health, infectious diseases, and population since 1994. As of the present, 76 meetings have been held.31 With the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) serving as its secretariat, the two sides undertake active cooperation in a number of ways. These include the participation of NGOs in project formulation study teams for the aforementioned fields, as well as conducting project implementation and evaluations jointly.
On top of these, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM, hereinafter referred to as the Global Fund) established in 2002 realizes a wide-ranging public-private partnerships that transcends the conventional framework of inter-governmental cooperation. Japan has been contributing to the Global Fund as a main player since its establishment.
See Section 2 for details on the Global Fund
Fifth ASEAN-Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies
Japan hosted the Fifth ASEAN-Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies in late August 2007 in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Health Organization (WHO). High-level officials in charge of social welfare, health care policies from the 10 ASEAN countries were invited to attend the meeting (a total of 41 officials took part from the ASEAN side, including one at the vice-ministerial level). Under the theme of "Cooperation between social welfare and health care services, human resources development, and community development," the meeting focused on the issues of provision of welfare and health care services for the elderly in the community, cooperation between welfare and health care, human resources development, and community development. Participants shared information and experience regarding the situation, action and model cases in each country, and constructive recommendations for the future efforts of the ASEAN countries were presented.
Japan hosted the Fifth ASEAN-Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies in late August 2007 in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Health Organization (WHO). High-level officials in charge of social welfare, health care policies from the 10 ASEAN countries were invited to attend the meeting (a total of 41 officials took part from the ASEAN side, including one at the vice-ministerial level). Under the theme of "Cooperation between social welfare and health care services, human resources development, and community development," the meeting focused on the issues of provision of welfare and health care services for the elderly in the community, cooperation between welfare and health care, human resources development, and community development. Participants shared information and experience regarding the situation, action and model cases in each country, and constructive recommendations for the future efforts of the ASEAN countries were presented.
Column 7 International Medical Cooperation in Africa
— Recalling Activities at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research —