On March 14, 2022, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held a meeting of “Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies Working Group 2 – Communication.”

Among life stages including infancy, early childhood, childhood, puberty, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, Japan’s immunization and vaccination policies have centered on infancy, early childhood, and childhood. These policies have contributed to better health and quality of life for the public. However, as demonstrated by a growing body of global scientific evidence, a life course approach to vaccination which takes every life stage into account not only helps to maintain public health, but also generates socioeconomic benefits. There is also an ongoing shift in vaccination target groups in Japan to prevent diseases like human papillomavirus (HPV) or to protect older adults from pneumococcal diseases.

At this meeting, we deepened the discussion on which communication methods are best for effective and efficient immunization and vaccination policies that reflect societal changes and meet the needs of each target group, as well as on future actions needed to address communication issues.

To prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, this meeting was held online using a remote conferencing system.

■ 2021 Advisory Board Working Group 2  (Titles omitted; in Japanese alphabetical order by last name)

Members:

• Kyoko Ama (Representative, Children and Healthcare Project)
• Mamoru Ichikawa (Visiting Scholar, Stanford University; Representative, Association of Medical Journalism; Visiting Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Hiroshima University; Manager of Fund Development and Public Policy, READYFOR, Inc.)
• Yuko Umeyama (Governance & Operational Excellence Department, Global Vaccine Business Unit, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited)
• Takahiro Kinoshita (Vice Representative, Minpapi! Let’s Learn About HPV Project; Vice Representative, CoV-Navi)
• Tomoko Koike (Associate Professor, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care/Graduate School of Health Management, Keio University)
• Aya Saitoh (Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata University)
• Mikihito Tanaka (Professor, Journalism Course, Graduate School of Political Science, Waseda University; Professor, School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University)
• Makiko Nakatani (Secretariat, KNOW VPD! Protect Our Children)

MC/Moderator:

• Joji Sugawara (Manager, Health and Global Policy Institute)

■Related contents held as part of the project

– November 4, 2021 The First Meeting of Working Group 5 on Vaccine Research and Development, “Next Actions for the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccination Policies”
– January 17, 2022 The Second Meeting of Working Group 5 on Vaccine Research and Development, “The Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies”
– March 9, 2022 The Meeting of Working Group 1 on Life Course Approach, “The Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies”