In December 2024, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) conducted a nationwide public opinion survey of 1,000 men and women age 20 years and over. Starting in 2006, HGPI has regularly conducted public opinion surveys to grasp citizens’ desires regarding healthcare and to examine health policy-related issues. The items covered by these surveys are independently selected by HGPI, with past surveys examining key topics in domestic and global health policy like satisfaction in healthcare, global health, and the use of generative AI in the field of healthcare.

In addition to examining satisfaction in healthcare like past surveys, this year’s survey also asked about access to healthcare institutions and medicines in light of recent developments like work-style reform for physicians and the launch of the system for patient-selected extra medical services. Furthermore, in December 2024, Japan stopped issuing new insurance cards and began full-scale efforts to transition to the use of My Number cards in their place. Expectations are high for this change to help centralize medical information and advance digital transformation (DX). Given these circumstances, this year’s survey also examined public awareness of the use of medical information.

Summary of survey items

• Satisfaction with Japan’s current healthcare and health system (included since 2006)
• Current perception of access to healthcare institutions and medicines, satisfaction levels, and awareness of issues
• Attitudes regarding the nature of public health services
• Expectations for the use of medical information and awareness of issues

Key survey findings

Satisfaction in healthcare increased slightly, but was generally the same as previous years

• Almost 70% of respondents expressed satisfaction toward Japan’s healthcare and health system overall
• Satisfaction with “access to healthcare institutions” was almost the same as in our 2023 survey, which found that satisfaction decreased after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
  
  

While 60% of respondents could access medical attention when necessary, almost 30% had the experience of avoiding a medical examination due to the cost

• Regarding access to health services when needed (excluding nighttime visits and emergencies), 60% of those who can access medical attention identified “Waiting times are long” and “It is difficult to get an appointment” as difficulties when doing so
• Almost 30% of respondents had the experience of avoiding medical attention due to cost
• When asked about the price of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, 50% of respondents felt they are expensive. Conversely, less than 40% felt that prescription drugs are expensive
  
  

While 60% of respondents supported the secondary use of medical information, many expressed the need to protect private information and to have careful security measures and clear terms of use

• When asked about their use of My Number cards as insurance cards, under 50% responded, “I have already started”
• Regarding secondary use of medical information including for research, 60% responded, “I would wholeheartedly support its use” or “Depending on the purpose, I’d be willing to allow its use.” When asked about conditions for secondary use, responses included, “When the information is processed in a manner it cannot be used to identify individuals,” “When there is a clear purpose for the use of the data,” and “When adequate security measures have been put in place”
• Sixty percent of respondents supported the use of medical information (such as from medical records or test results) for research. As for the purposes of such use, respondents had the highest expectations for “the development of new treatments or therapeutics”
  
  

Most respondents said an increase in financial burden is “inevitable” to maintain current levels of public health services

• Regarding the future balance between economic burdens and benefits of public health services, 40% of respondents said, “To maintain the current level of public health services, an increase in economic burden is inevitable”
• As for how burdens should be increased, the most common response was “out-of-pocket payments”

[Survey Overview]

Survey period: From December 26, 2024 to January 7, 2025
Format: Online survey
Total number of surveys distributed: 11,517
Number of respondents: 1,384 (Response rate: 12.01%)
Number of responses collected: 1,000 (Collection ended once 1,000 valid responses were submitted)
Target: Japanese people 20 years of age and over
Sampling: Adjusted by age, gender, and place of residence

For details, please see the PDF file on this page.