On June 15, 2026, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held the Kick-off Panel Discussion “From Africa and Japan, Drawing from Perspectives Around the World: A Platform for Cultivating a Philosophical Health Dialogue Together”. This event aimed to re-examine the spiritual dimensions of global health and create a forum for dialogue that can be translated into policy, business, and international relations.

Global health stands at a structural turning point. Traditional donors, mainly Western countries, are scaling back their aid, and a paradigm shift from aid to investment is under way. At the same time, African countries are asserting greater ownership of their own development (African agency), and new models of development finance are in demand. Discussions of “means” such as financing and logistics are abundant. However, they have yet to address the fundamental questions these changes raise about how we understand human beings and relationships: “What is a human being?”, “What is health?”, and “For whom is development?” In every region, it is not only the design of health systems that plays a decisive role. People’s values, beliefs, and cultural contexts surrounding birth, ageing, illness, and death are always decisive as well. In other words, the essential questions that philosophy, faith, and ethics have long addressed lie at the very foundation of global health.

The specialized model of modern medicine has tended to treat human beings as “isolated individuals.” In contrast, the Japanese philosophy of Engi (dependent origination) and the non-separation of self and others resonate deeply with relational philosophical traditions found across Africa. One example is the philosophy of Ubuntu from southern Africa, often expressed as “I am because we are.” Both traditions understand human beings as existing within their relationships with others. This long-overlooked perspective is now needed in global health.

Taking this resonance as its starting point, HGPI has established a platform that brings together knowledge-holders from different fields, including health policy, development finance, medical anthropology, philosophy, and faith-based ethics. Drawing on diverse philosophical traditions and insights from the field, the platform explores the question: “How can we talk together about birth, ageing, illness, and death beyond the frameworks of modern medicine and development?” Through this platform, HGPI aims to share its messages ahead of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled to be held in 2028.

As the starting point of this platform, the event brought together insights from a diverse range of experts and deepened discussion on the spirituality and philosophical thought that global health requires today.

Please see the PDF below for details of the discussion.

[Overview]

• Date & Time: Monday, June 15, 2026; 13:00-15:00 JST
• Format: In-Person (no virtual attendance available)
• Venue: Kabayama Hall, The International House of Japan (5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
• Language: English and Japanese (simultaneous interpretation provided)
• Host: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)

■ Co-designers: (Titles omitted; in no particular order)
This platform and program have been developed with the participation of the following co-designers:

Alaa Murabit (Commissioner, Lancet-Georgetown Commission on Faith, Trust & Health / UN SDG Global Advocate)
Adrian Lovett (Executive Director for the United Kingdom, Middle East & Asia-Pacific, The ONE Campaign)
Ken Shibusawa (CEO, Shibusawa and Company, Inc. / Chair, the Japan-Middle East/Africa Relations Committee, Keizai Doyukai)
Masaki Nomura (Doctoral Researcher, Harvard University / Executive Advisor and Chief Strategist, Kyoto Institute of Philosophy)
Ryoji Noritake (Chair, Health and Global Policy Institute / Co-founder, Human Activity Research Laboratory)
Akiko Horiba (Director, Center for Mediation Support, Sasakawa Peace Foundation)
Shoukei Matsumoto (Buddhist Monk / Professor, Faculty of Well-being, Musashino University)
Wakanyi Hoffman (Founder, African Folktales Project)