Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) will host the Kick-off Panel Discussion “From Japan and Africa, in discussion with the World: Cultivating Together a Philosophical Dialogue on Health” on June 15, 2026. This event aims 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. The withdrawal of traditional donors such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a paradigm shift from aid to investment, and the growing prominence of African agency, alongside demands for new development financing models are reshaping global health. However, these changes are not limited to questions of funding and policy frameworks. They pose fundamental questions about our very understanding of humanity, health, community, and the purpose of development itself.

In the field of global health, phenomena that cannot be resolved through technology or funding alone have been repeatedly observed. Vaccine uptake is determined by community trust, and the quality of palliative and end-of-life care depends on the involvement of families, communities, and religious figures. Across every domain, values, beliefs, and cultural contexts play a decisive role that healthcare system design alone cannot capture. They shape how people answer questions such as “Why do we seek care?”, “How do we make meaning of illness and death?”, and “How does a community approach health together?”. In other words, the questions that philosophy, faith, and ethics have long addressed lie at the very foundation of global health.

Modern medicine and public health have achieved remarkable results through specialisation, including the control of infectious diseases and the extension of life expectancy. Yet in that process, opportunities for sustained dialogue with adjacent domains — philosophy, faith, and ethics — have been limited. As the paradigm of global health undergoes transformation, the question of how human beings relate to the birth, ageing, illness, and death of others — a question that is at once spiritual and ethical — is once again emerging at the frontlines of global health policy.

In responding to these questions, Japan and Africa share an intellectual foundation. The Japanese philosophy of Engi (dependent origination) and the non-separation of self and others, and the African philosophy of Ubuntu — expressed through the phrase “I am because we are” — are both philosophical traditions that understand the human being not as an isolated individual but as a being constituted within relationships with others. Though these traditions developed independently, they share a profound resonance in understanding birth, ageing, illness, and death as communal and relational practices. As modern medicine specialised, this perspective was often let aside. Today, it is growing in importance as an intellectual foundation for the questions global health faces now.
Taking this resonance as its starting point, this event will bring together knowledge-holders from across disciplines — health policy, development finance, medical anthropology, philosophy, and faith ethics — to explore the question: “How can Japan and Africa together reimagine conversations surrounding birth, ageing, illness, and death, beyond the frameworks of modern medicine and development?” As the first in a series of events, it marks the beginning of a sustained process of dialogue through a multi-stakeholder approach across the public, private, academic, and civil society sectors, oriented towards the Tenth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which Japan is scheduled to host in 2028.

*Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. The registration form will close once capacity is reached.

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Monday, June 15, 2026, 13:00-15:00 JST (Doors open at 12:30)
• Format: In-Person (no virtual attendance available)
• Venue: Kajima Hall, International House of Japan (5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
• Language: English and Japanese (simultaneous interpretation will be provided)
• Participation Fees: Free
• Capacity: 80 (in person, first-come, first-served)
• Host: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
• Speakers: *Titles omitted; in no particular order; Updated regularly
  Adrian Lovett (The ONE Campaign Executive Director, United Kingdom, Middle East & Asia Pacific)
  Ken Shibusawa (CEO, Shibusawa and Company, Inc. / Chair, the Japan-Middle East/Africa Relations Committee)
  Shoukei Matsumoto (Buddhist Monk / Professor of Faculty of Well-being, Musashino University)
  Ryoji Noritake (Chair, Health and Global Policy Institute / Co-founder, Human Activity Research Laboratory)