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Kyodo News
8 hours ago
- Health
- Kyodo News
Japan begins pre-entry TB checks for foreigners staying over 3 months
KYODO NEWS - 15 minutes ago - 20:16 | All, Japan Japan introduced mandatory pre-arrival tuberculosis screening on Monday for people planning to stay over three months, starting with those from the Philippines and Nepal, a government official said. Vietnam is expected to be added to the list in September, with Indonesia, Myanmar and China to follow. The number of foreign nationals diagnosed with the infectious disease while in Japan is on the rise, and they are comprised mostly of people from the six countries, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The screening requirement will initially apply to citizens who normally reside in the Philippines and Nepal, and plan to stay in Japan over a mid to long term. They will be obliged to provide evidence that they are not infected with tuberculosis before their arrival or will be denied entry. While tuberculosis is curable and preventable, it killed an estimated 1.25 million people in 2023 and has likely regained its status as the world's deadliest infectious disease after being temporarily overtaken by COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. In Japan, the number of tuberculosis patients fell below 10 per 100,000 people for the first time in 2021, reaching 9.2 and placing the country in the WHO's low-incidence category. The rate declined further to 8.1 in 2023, according to the latest health ministry data. Related coverage: Japanese startup test kit shows promise in early cancer detection Top court rejects appeal by doctor over euthanasia of ALS patient Japan hospital uses insulin-producing iPS cells for type 1 diabetes
Kyodo News
9 hours ago
- Health
- Kyodo News
Japan begins pre-entry TB checks for foreigners staying over 3 months
KYODO NEWS - 4 minutes ago - 20:16 | All, Japan Japan introduced mandatory pre-arrival tuberculosis screening on Monday for people planning to stay over three months, starting with those from the Philippines and Nepal, a government official said. Vietnam is expected to be added to the list in September, with Indonesia, Myanmar and China to follow. The number of foreign nationals diagnosed with the infectious disease while in Japan is on the rise, and they are comprised mostly of people from the six countries, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The screening requirement will initially apply to citizens who normally reside in the Philippines and Nepal, and plan to stay in Japan over a mid to long term. They will be obliged to provide evidence that they are not infected with tuberculosis before their arrival or will be denied entry. While tuberculosis is curable and preventable, it killed an estimated 1.25 million people in 2023 and has likely regained its status as the world's deadliest infectious disease after being temporarily overtaken by COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. In Japan, the number of tuberculosis patients fell below 10 per 100,000 people for the first time in 2021, reaching 9.2 and placing the country in the WHO's low-incidence category. The rate declined further to 8.1 in 2023, according to the latest health ministry data. Related coverage: Japanese startup test kit shows promise in early cancer detection Top court rejects appeal by doctor over euthanasia of ALS patient Japan hospital uses insulin-producing iPS cells for type 1 diabetes
The Mainichi
12 hours ago
- Health
- The Mainichi
Japan begins pre-entry TB checks for foreigners staying over 3 months
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan introduced mandatory pre-arrival tuberculosis screening on Monday for people planning to stay over three months, starting with those from the Philippines and Nepal, a government official said. Vietnam is expected to be added to the list in September, with Indonesia, Myanmar and China to follow. The number of foreign nationals diagnosed with the infectious disease while in Japan is on the rise, and they are comprised mostly of people from the six countries, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The screening requirement will initially apply to citizens who normally reside in the Philippines and Nepal, and plan to stay in Japan over a mid to long term. They will be obliged to provide evidence that they are not infected with tuberculosis before their arrival or will be denied entry. While tuberculosis is curable and preventable, it killed an estimated 1.25 million people in 2023 and has likely regained its status as the world's deadliest infectious disease after being temporarily overtaken by COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. In Japan, the number of tuberculosis patients fell below 10 per 100,000 people for the first time in 2021, reaching 9.2 and placing the country in the WHO's low-incidence category. The rate declined further to 8.1 in 2023, according to the latest health ministry data.
Yomiuri Shimbun
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan's Birth Rate Remains Stubbornly Low Despite Efforts; Expert Recommends Reducing Working Hours, Work-Style Reform
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Despite years of extensive efforts to combat Japan's chronically low birth rate, the latest statistics indicate that there has been little tangible impact. According to the nation's 2024 vital statistics, the number of babies born to Japanese citizens in Japan fell below 700,000 for the first time, and the total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, slipped to a record low of 1.15. The annual number of babies born had dipped below 800,000 only as recently as 2022, and a sense of panic is spreading among central and local governments as cash handouts, making high school education free and a slew of other policies have failed to reverse these declines. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike wore a grim expression Wednesday after the figures compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry were released, but pledged to continue tackling the issue. 'I feel that we need to battle on at this time,' Koike said. 'We'll continue implementing policies.' The Tokyo metropolitan government has declared that efforts to combat the low birth rate are a high-priority issue, and has led the nation in rolling out a string of policies such as free nursery care and giving households with children aged up to 18 a handout of ¥5,000 per month. Despite these steps, the fertility rate for women living in the capital has been below 1 for two consecutive years and sank to 0.96 in 2024. 'We're trying all kinds of policies, but the situation remains severe,' a senior metropolitan government official said. Ishikawa Prefecture's fertility rate recorded a drop of 0.11 percentage points from 2023, the biggest fall among the nation's 47 prefectures. The prefecture has attempted to stem the decline through such measures as promoting businesses that support a balance between work and raising children. 'We'll accept the latest results and use the examples of other local governments as a reference for future policies,' an Ishikawa prefectural government official in charge of child policies said. Tokyo a magnet for young people The Yomiuri Shimbun The number of couples who got married in 2024 increased for the first time in two years. Although about 480,000 couples tied the knot, this figure remains well below the almost 600,000 couples who did so in 2019. The number plunged the following year as the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. The average age at which a woman married for the first time ticked up 0.1 years from 2023. The average age at which women gave birth to their first baby was 31.0, about five years older than 1975's average age of 25.7. The influx of young women to Tokyo and other major urban centers from rural areas has been identified as a major driver of these trends. According to Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry statistics, the fertility rate fell especially sharply in the Tohoku region. A striking number of municipalities in Tohoku recorded that the number of women in their 20s and early 30s who moved away in 2024 eclipsed the number of men in those age brackets who departed. In major cities, many young people said they could not consider getting married because they were too busy with their job or were employed as nonregular workers. 'Rural areas must come up with ways to increase employment opportunities that encourage women to choose to live there,' said Kanako Amano, a senior researcher on demographics at the NLI Research Institute. 'I urge local governments in major cities to concentrate resources on ensuring stable employment that allows young men and women to consider getting married and having children.' Taking kids to the office Amid these gloomy statistics, some companies have produced positive results by changing the way their employees work. People Co., a toy manufacturer based in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, encourages employees to bring their children with them, so they can work while their children play at the office. Nine of People's about 45 employees were raising children in 2019, and that figure has soared to 17 this year. Kyoto University Prof. Haruka Shibata, an expert in sociology, said calculations based on data collated from other nations indicated that expanding child-rearing allowances could nudge up the fertility rate by about 0.1 percentage points. However, reducing the working hours of men in full-time, regular employment by two hours each day could increase the rate by 0.35 percentage points. The Children's Future Strategy approved by the Cabinet in 2023 also stated that reducing long working hours would lead to people having enough time to devote to child-rearing and household chores. 'The government should discuss steps such as reducing legal working hours, and beef up national policies that could change the way people work,' Shibata said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Crown Prince, Crown Princess Attend Ceremony for Unidentified War Dead; 368 More Remains Enshrined
The Yomiuri Shimbun Crown Prince Akishino, right, and Crown Princess Kiko attend a ceremony to honor unidentified war dead in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Monday. Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko were among attendees at a ceremony honoring unidentified war dead who perished during World War II or in Siberian internment camps following the war, at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Monday. The approximately 400 attendees also included Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, government officials and representatives of surviving families, as this year marks 80 years since the end of the war. Bones of 368 people, which had been retrieved from Russia, Iwoto island and other places by government teams dedicated to recovering the remains of war dead, were enshrined at the cemetery on the day. The bones had remained unidentified and were thus never returned to the surviving families. With their addition, the cemetery is now the resting place for the remains of 371,008 war dead. Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka referred to the government's project to locate war dead remains in his address at the ceremony. 'We will make the utmost effort to ensure that the remains of as many people as possible can return to their hometowns quickly,' he said. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the remains of about 1.12 million people out of the approximately 2.4 million war dead who died outside Japan have not been recovered.
