Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) has released policy recommendations titled, “Balancing Sustainability and Innovation in the Healthcare System: Key Perspectives for Pharmaceutical Pricing System Reform.”

As medical advances and population ageing continue to put upward pressure on healthcare expenditure, achieving both the appropriate valuation of innovation and the sustainability of the health system has become a critical policy agenda in many countries with public healthcare schemes, including Japan. In Japan in particular, strengthening the capacity for drug discovery and addressing drug lag and drug loss have been repeatedly highlighted as urgent priorities, and there is strong public expectation that innovative medicines and medical technologies will be delivered to patients and their families in a timely and reliable manner, even under severe fiscal constraints.​

Japan’s health system is grounded in universal health coverage through social health insurance, based on the principle of mutual support via insurance premiums and out‑of‑pocket payments. To ensure the long‑term sustainability and social legitimacy of this system, it is not sufficient to focus solely on fiscal and technical considerations; it is also essential to develop policies that reflect the values and lived experiences of patients and citizens, and to secure processes through which they can meaningfully engage in policy discussion and co‑creation.​

Against this backdrop, these recommendations consolidate and articulate key points for discussion primarily from the perspective of pharmaceutical pricing policy that merit further consideration in order to advance both the sustainability of the health system and the promotion of medical innovation.

*The English version of this report will be available in a due course.