*A report on the Symposium has been published on May 27, 2025.

In 2019, Japan enacted the “Basic Act on Countermeasures for Stroke, Heart Disease and Other CVDs to Extend Healthy Life Expectancies”, leading to comprehensive nationwide efforts to promote CVD control. Based on this law, the Japanese Government established the National Plan for the Promotion of Measures Against Cerebrovascular and Cardiovascular Diseases (hereinafter “National Plan”), while prefectures created their own Prefectural Plans for CVD control (hereinafter “Prefectural Plans”). These plans are subject to periodic review, with the National Plan revised in April 2023 and the Prefectural Plans collectively updated in April 2024, marking the beginning of their second phase. During the first phase of the National Plan, the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges, but significant progress was made in areas like the Model Projects for Integrated Centers for Stroke and Heart Disease Support (hereinafter “Integrated Support Centers”) and the development of a CVD Database, including substantial discussions on these initiatives. However, there remain challenges in ensuring these measures adequately reflect the needs of actual service users – patients and affected individuals.

Currently, 30 prefectures have established Integrated Support Centers, serving as key hubs for regional CVD control efforts. Additionally, CVD measures are often focused on acute care, with insufficient resources dedicated to chronic care and prevention efforts, as has been noted by various stakeholders. Particular emphasis needs to be placed on promoting regional clinical pathways, cardiac rehabilitation, and education to prevent recurrence. Addressing these issues and enhancing the effectiveness of CVD control measures, while developing more beneficial systems, requires building policies that are responsive to the needs of people living with CVDs.

This symposium discussed CVD control based on the perspectives of people living with CVDs, bringing together industry, government, academia, and civil society to advance the realization of more practical measures in the Second Phase CVD Control Plans.

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Friday, November 22, 2024; 15:00-17:00 JST
• Format: Hybrid (In-Person and Online (Zoom Webinar))
• Venue: Global Business Hub Tokyo (Grand Cube 3F, Otemachi Financial City, 1-9-2, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) >>Access 
• Language: Japanese
• Organizer: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
• Support: Japanese Circulation Association
  

[Program] (Titles omitted, no particular order) 

15:00-15:05	Opening Remarks
	Hanako Jimi (Member, House of Councillors; Executive Director, Parliamentary Association for Follow-up on Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease Control Measures)
15:05-15:10	Explanatory Introduction
	Ryoji Noritake (Chair, HGPI)
15:10-15:30	Keynote Lecture 1 “Japan’s Progress on CVD Control in and Expectations for the Roles of People Living With or Affected by CVDs”
	Shinya Tsuruta (Director, Cancer and Disease Control Division, Public Health Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW))
15:30-15:50	Keynote Lecture 2 “Necessary Steps for Promoting CVD Control Through Unified Collaboration Among Industry, Government, Academia, and Civil Society”
	Issei Komuro (Vice President, International University of Health and Welfare / Representative Director, The Japanese Cardiovascular Association)
16:00-17:00	Panel Discussion “Next Steps in Achieving Citizen-Centered CVD Policies”
	Panelists: Hiroyuki Kiriyama (The Patient Needs Visualization Project, Japanese Circulation Association; Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital) Naomi Sakurai (President, Cancer Solutions Co., Ltd.) Atsushi Kogetsu (Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Ethics and Public Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University) Noriko Murakami (Founder and President of PHA Japan, Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Japan) Satoshi Yasuda (Professor, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine) Moderator: Shotaro Tsukamoto (Senior Associate, HGPI)
	MC: Orie Yamashita (Associate, HGPI)