Discussion With CSIS: Health Policy and Restructuring Japan After ‘3.11’

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As I have mentioned earlier this year on my web site, we, the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), are collaborating with CSIS, a well known Think Tank of the United States, on health policy issues.

The topics for our collaboration for this time are: 1. Payment System of Hospitals and 2. Application of ICT.

Since we now have drafts of the reports on the two themes, I came to Washington DC to jointly present interim reports and discuss the issues with the invited specialists from outside.

I arrived at Dulles airport from Narita at 10:40am, and headed directly from the airport to CSIS.  We discussed over lunch on the ‘recommendation for the restructuring of Japan’ which CSIS started to develop after ‘3.11’.

This theme is very complicated, to say the least, and there is no end in our discussion.

However, I enjoy discussing. Health care system issue is a huge problem and it takes a tremendous amount of time to achieve any reforms.  We are searching for realistic policies and the ways to apply those policies in order to bring about the desired changes in the existing systems.
 
It seems to me that the key is how to use the ‘3.11’ as a chance agent to restructure current social system.  Of course, we must develop good and deep understanding in the broad range of the public, and the process of how we do this is very important.

Japan has huge burdens; aging society, chronic diseases burden, expansion of income disparity, stagnating economy, and on top of that we are at the brink of bankruptcy.  We have hardly any time left for reforms.  If we do not turn this great crisis of ‘3.11’ to an oppoutunity for big chance , I seriously think that Japan could collapse.