Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) hosted an installment of “30-minute Health Policy Update,” a series of briefings for Diet Members about the most pressing health policy issues of today. The title of this installment was “The Latest on Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Control and Voices From the Frontline – Circumstances Since the Basic Act and Best Practices from Communities and Regions.” It featured a lecture from Professor Mitsuaki Isobe, Director of the Sakakibara Heart Institute of the Japan Research Promotion Society for Cardiovascular Diseases, in which he explained necessary future reforms from the perspective of current circumstances and challenges in cardiovascular medicine in Japan.

Purpose of the meeting

The Basic Act on Cardiovascular Disease Measures was enacted in 2019 and the Japanese National Plan for Promotion of Measures Against Cerebrovascular and Cardiovascular Disease was approved by Cabinet Decision in 2020. In accordance with the National Plan, prefectural governments are now formulating Prefectural Plans for the Promotion of CVD Countermeasures. Given these circumstances, HGPI launched the Cardiovascular Disease Control Promotion Project in 2021 with the aim of further advancing CVD control measures. With a focus on heart disease, we have conducted hearings with opinion leaders who are generating best practices, held discussions with our advisory board, and hosted a global expert meeting as part of this project. Based on those discussions, we developed policy recommendations titled “Five Recommendations for Advancing CVD Control With Six Supporting Perspectives and 14 Best Practices Extracted from Global Discussions With Industry, Government, Academia, and Civil Society.”

Professor Isobe currently serves on the Cardiovascular Disease Control Promotion Project advisory board. In this installment of 30-minute Health Policy Update, he discussed the current state of CVD care in Japan, problems in this field, and the importance of reforming the healthcare system moving forward.

Key points of the lecture

• A transport system designed for cardiac and vascular emergencies must be established.
• A system providing disease management programs for heart failure among elderly people must be established.
• A support system for pediatric patients with congenital heart disease should be established.
• Regional best practices should be expanded horizontally.

[Program] (Titles obmitted)

Explanatory introduction
Shunichiro Kurita (Manager, HGPI)

Opening remarks (video)
Hanako Jimi (Member, House of Councilors; Executive Director, Parliamentary Association for Follow-up on Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease Control Measures)

Lecture: The Latest on Cardiovascular Disease Control and Voices From the Frontline
Mitsuaki Isobe (Director, Sakakibara Heart Institute, Japan Research Promotion Society for Cardiovascular Diseases; Committee Member, Council for the Promotion of Cardiovascular Disease Measures)

Closing remarks
Kiyoshi Kurokawa (Chairman, HGPI)

■Non-partisan Diet Member Briefing – 30-minute Health Policy Update

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