Press Releases

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will co-organize an international conference on “Universal Health Coverage in the New Development Era: Toward Building Resilient and Sustainable Health Systems” at the Tokyo Prince Hotel on December 16, with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE).

2. This conference will bring together a large number of ministers, high level health leaders including some government officials from various countries, representatives of international organizations, and other global health experts for discussions on responding to public health crises such as the Ebola virus disease and on building resilient and sustainable health systems, including the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC).

3. This conference will be the first international conference on global health to be held amid the transition of the world’s development agenda from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (date) (PDF), including the SDGs, at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September this year. With Japan assuming the presidency of the G7 in January next year, the G7 Ise-Shima Summit and the G7 Kobe Health Ministers’ Meeting will take place in Japan in May and September respectively. In addition, the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) will be held in Africa for the first time next year. Japan will proactively contribute to improving global health through the discussions at this conference.