Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held an Advisory Board meeting titled “Toward Reliable Policy Implementation for Early Detection and Early Intervention of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the Occupational Health Sector” on January 27, 2026.

In Fiscal Year 2024, HGPI conducted both quantitative and qualitative surveys to understand the reality of one of the major challenges in renal disease measures: the gap between health checkups and seeking medical care. Based on the findings of these surveys, discussions were deepened at an Advisory Board meeting, leading to the compilation of the policy recommendations document, “Policy Recommendations on Strengthening Chronic Kidney Disease Strategies: Challenges and Solutions in Seeking Medical Care from the Perspective of Patients and Those Affected”. The recommendations emphasized the importance of cross-sectoral discussions, the need to establish evidence-based standards for recommending medical visits, and the significance of prioritizing intervention groups and considering approaches tailored to specific attributes.

For Fiscal Year 2025, HGPI plans to hold two Advisory Board meetings. Building upon the previous year’s recommendations, the goal was to specifically clarify the challenges faced by local governments and health insurers in the CKD care pathwayーfrom health checkups to seeking medical careーand to organize and examine feasible solutions to these barriers, as well as the roles required of stakeholders to overcome them.

This second meeting focused on CKD countermeasures in the occupational health sector (including employers and insurers for employees). It was held to deepen discussions while sharing the current challenges with experts from various fields, aiming to identify concrete solutions in the occupational health sector. The first meeting focused on local governments (including National Health Insurance and the Medical Care System for the Advanced Elderly) and discussed the same theme.

*Based on the discussions from the first and second meetings, a set of policy recommendations will be developed and published.

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Tuesday, January 27, 2026; 14:00-16:00 JST
• Format: Hybrid *This meeting was held as a closed session.
• Venue:Global Business Hub Tokyo
  (3F Otemachi Financial City Grand Cube, 1-9-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0004)
• Language: Japanese
• Organizer: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)

■Advisory board members (title omitted; in Japanese syllabary order)

Akemi Ando (Representative, Occupational Physician, Industrial Health and Safety Consultant, Ando Occupational Health Consulting Office/ Visiting Researcher, Department of International Cooperation for Medical Education, International Research Center for Medical Education, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo)
Takeo Nakayama (Professor, Department of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, Kyoto University)
Akira Fukui (Lecturer, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine)
Shingo Fukuma (Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences/ Professor, Human Health Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine)
Junko Matsuda (Public Health Nurse, Hankyu Hanshin Health Insurance Society)
Tomonori Yamasaki (Managing Director, AstraZeneca Medical/Dental Healthcare Agency)
Masayo Yamato (Health Guidance Room Leader and Development Support Group Leader, Health Department, Headquarters, Japan Health Insurance Association)
Hirokazu Yoshii (Associate Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University/ Former Special Advisor to the President, Health Insurance Claims Review & Reimbursement Services)
Akio Yonekura (Vice President, Executive, Cancerscan Inc./ Executive Officer, Public Policy and Industry-University Collaboration Bureau, JMDC Inc.)
Aya Watanabe (Public Health Nurse, Data Health Division, Health Business Department, Health Insurance Association for Architecture and Civil Engineering companies)

Moderator
Eri Yoshimura (Senior Manager, Health and Global Policy Institute)