Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held an installment of “30-minute Health Policy Update,” a series of briefings for Diet Members on the most pressing health policy issues of today. This installment was held at the Second Members’ Office Building of the House of Representatives and was titled, “Issues and Necessary Actions for the Vaccine R&D and Production Pipeline.”

At the briefing, Professor Ken J. Ishii (Professor, Division of Vaccine Science and Director, International Vaccine Design Center, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo) gave a lecture on the value of vaccines in society and issues that must be addressed in the vaccine R&D and production pipeline. After the lecture, Diet members in attendance submitted many questions and a lively opinion exchange was held.

The week from April 24, 2022 to April 30, 2022 was World Immunization Week, which is a global initiative to protect a greater number of individuals and communities from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) supported by organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This 30-minute Health Policy Update was hosted to mark the occasion of World Immunization Week and to inform as many Diet members as possible about challenges facing the vaccine R&D and production pipeline and necessary measures for ensuring the rapid development and stable supply of vaccines.

Key points of the lecture

• The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a revolution in vaccine development through advances like the acceleration of the development process or the real-world application of mRNA vaccines.
• The COVID-19 pandemic helped us reaffirm that vaccines for infectious diseases are the cornerstone of healthcare and public health, and that they are crucial for national security, diplomacy, and social and economic activity. As such, we must rapidly initiate a domestic command center and bases for R&D and production.
• The G7 has endorsed the “100 Days Mission,” which aims to produce vaccines and other tools within 100 days of the next pandemic. A group of professionals in vaccine R&D that can take action during emergencies should be formed. Rather than having an all-Japan group, it should be a global alliance. Of course, said group should also have the capacity to act during non-emergencies.
• Japan can reinforce education on vaccines and similar topics in healthcare and public health to become an exporter of safe vaccines that people will trust due to the Japanese brand.

[Program]

Explanatory introduction
Joji Sugawara (Senior Manager, HGPI)

Opening remarks
Noriko Furuya (Member, House of Representatives; Acting Chairperson, Association for the Promotion of Improved Public Health through Vaccinations, Parliamentary Group for Vaccines and Prevention)

Lecture: Issues and Necessary Actions for the Vaccine R&D and Production Pipeline
Ken J. Ishii (Professor, Division of Vaccine Science and Director, International Vaccine Design Center, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo)

Closing remarks
Kiyoshi Kurokawa (Chairman, HGPI)

Q&A session

■ Overview of HGPI’s Immunization and Vaccination Policy Promotion Project

HGPI started its Immunization and Vaccination Policy Promotion Project in FY2020. To outline the current situation in domestic immunization and vaccination policy and to identify points of contention, we presented policy recommendations titled, “A Life Course Approach to Immunization and Vaccination Policy – Five Perspectives and Recommended Actions” in June 2021. Those five perspectives are:

Perspective 1 – Immunization and vaccination policies based on a life course approach should be advanced.
Perspective 2 – Dissemination, awareness-building, and communication strategies that target healthcare professionals and the public should be created.
Perspective 3 – A system that analyzes and shares the epidemiological effects of vaccinations by linking vaccination practices with information systems that track outbreaks of targeted diseases should be created.
Perspective 4 – Steps should be taken to create a system that enables multi-stakeholders to hold continuous discussions on vaccine policy.
Perspective 5 –Immunization policies that address both non-emergency and emergency situations and anticipate future vaccine demand should receive investment.

In FY2021, the project has been working together with experts in each field to delve further into policy actions that should be taken in the future based on these five perspectives. Discussions centered around these five perspectives were compiled in policy recommendations titled, “Recommendations for Truly Strengthening the Vaccine R&D and Production Pipeline,” which was presented in April 2022

[Event Report] Non-partisan Diet Member Briefing – 30-minute Health Policy Update: “Strengthening Data Infrastructure and Use to Enhance the Sustainability and Resilience of the Health System” (April 14, 2022) >