To support progress in Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) policy, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) launched its CVD Control Promotion Project in 2021 to promote the engagement in continuous advocacy through policy recommendations and the sharing of best practices. In FY2025, with an eye toward the interim evaluation of the National Plan and the upcoming third phase (FY2029 onward), HGPI has focused on the early detection and intervention for CVD through health checkups, as well as on enhancing the effectiveness of health checkup policies.

Health checkup uptake rates have steadily improved, primarily within a framework focused on lifestyle-related disease prevention. However, challenges remain in post-checkup care-seeking behavior. A key component of CVD prevention is promptly and reliably connecting those who do not seek care after checkups to medical treatment. Currently, intervention methods for such individuals largely rely on ad hoc approaches at the local level. To address this, HGPI conducted qualitative and quantitative research this fiscal year to identify barriers along the pathway from checkup participation to care-seeking and to explore concrete solutions for municipalities and employer-based insurers.

This Advisory Board Meeting was held as a multi-stakeholder forum to share and discuss the findings identified from this research, including barriers to improving checkup quality and linking non-attenders to appropriate medical services, and to compile policy recommendations aimed at reinforcing the effectiveness of CVD prevention.

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Monday, March 23, 2026, 15:00–17:00
• 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 (titles omitted, in no particular order)

Nobuki Ando (Former Chairman, Japan Health Insurance Association/ Outside Director, Audit and Supervisory Committee Members, Towa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)
Shusho Okada (Professor, Department of Health Policy, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Institute of Science, Tokyo)
Tomonori Okamura (Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University)
Rei Goto (Professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University)
Akihiro Saigusa (Director, Shinjuku Medical Examination Plaza / Director, Japan Society of Ningen Dock and Preventive Medical Care / Council Member, The Japan Society of Health Evaluation and Promotion)
Hitoshi Fukuhara (Representative Director, Heart Valve Voice)

Moderator:
Yukiko Kawata (Manager, Health and Global Policy Institute)