Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) will host an urgent symposium to examine the significance, rationale, and practical approaches for reflecting the voices of patients and people with lived experience in the Central Social Insurance Medical Council (CSIMC), as discussions on its reform accelerate.

On October 20, 2025, a new coalition government was formed by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party, placing social security reform as a top policy priority. Among these priorities, the proposed “reform of CSIMC” is a particularly important theme that is expected to have a substantial impact on future healthcare policy decision-making processes.

CSIMC is a key advisory council under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, with significant influence over revisions to medical service fees and drug prices. However, under the current system, no formal framework exists for “patient representatives,” and it is difficult to say that patient and public perspectives are sufficiently reflected in policy design.

Against this backdrop, this symposium will explore, in view of the direction of CSIMC reform under the new administration:

• The significance and legitimacy of patient and public involvement in CSIMC
• Effective ways to bring patients and public voices into the policy process
• The mechanisms and selection processes needed to ensure meaningful participation

In addition, HGPI will invite applications from individuals registered on the “Japan’s Patient Expert Platform (J-PEP)” to serve as panelists in the symposium’s panel discussion. (Detailed application information is available on the J-PEP members-only page after registration.)

■ For more information about J-PEP, please click here.

This will be HGPI’s first attempt to directly recruit panelists from among patients and people with lived experience, and we view this as an important opportunity to bring diverse voices into policy-making. We warmly welcome and encourage your active participation.

To participate in this seminar, J-PEP membership registration is required.

(Registration is free, but please note that J-PEP is available only in Japanese.)

[How to Register]

1. If you are not yet a member, please register for J-PEP.
2. After completing registration, please log in.
3. Once logged in, please complete your seminar registration here.
   (Available only in Japanese.)

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Thursday, January 22, 2026; 14:00-16:00 JST
• Format: In-person only (Please note that video of this event will not be streamed or archived)
• Venue: Conference Room 22A, TKP Tokyo Station Otemachi Conference Center (KDDI Otemachi Building 22F, 1-8-1 Chiyoda City, Tokyo)
• Language: Japanese only
• Participation Fee: Free
• Capacity: 50 participants
  *First-come, first-served basis (Seats for media representatives who wish to cover the event will be arranged separately.)

[Program] (Titles omitted; speaker list and content is subject to change)