Press Releases
Parliamentary Vice-Minister Fukasawa’s Participation in TICAD Ministerial Meeting Thematic Event (Summary)
August 24, 2024
On 24 August, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs FUKAZAWA Yoichi, participated in a TICAD Ministerial Meeting Thematic Event held at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo and delivered remarks, which are summarized as follows:
- On 24 August Parliamentary Vice-Minister FUKAZAWA participated in a TICAD Ministerial Meeting Thematic Event ‘New Partnership for Health Equity in Africa: Accelerating universal health coverage (UHC) with Innovations toward 2030’, organised by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the African Union Commission (AUC), and delivered remarks.
- In his remarks, Parliamentary Vice-Minister FUKAZAWA noted that with about five years remaining before 2030, the target year for achieving UHC, which Japan is commited to and led global efforts on, the international community must once again remind itself of the goal of achieving UHC and take action before forgetting the lessons learned from COVID-19. He also stressed the need to share knowledge and promote collaboration to ensure equitable access to, inter alia, health services as well as immunisations for all.
- Parliamentary Vice-Minister FUKAZWA also stated that further progress is strongly expected on the UHC Knowledge Hub, which is to be established in Japan in collaboration with WHO and the World Bank, as well as on the use of knowledge and innovation in the private sector, particularly Japanese companies, which were discussed at the event, as both are useful in building more resilient health systems and tackling health challenges. He also emphasized the importance of continueing dialogue and cooperation to achieve UHC, and mentioned that the Japanese government is also committed to expanding its relationship with Africa and various partners, including health-related organisations and the private sector, in a multi-layered manner to co-create solutions to challenges.