Japan's new global health policy and ASEM initiative

Abstract

At the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in September this year, Japan launched a new global health policy, which makes maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) as one of its main pillars. Under this policy, Japan will provide assistance totaling five billion US dollars over a five-year period, beginning in 2011, and will make the utmost effort, in cooperation with other countries, to save the lives of 11.3 million children and 680,000 mothers. Today, many children continue to die within the first month of their birth due to preventable and treatable causes, and many pregnant women lose their lives without receiving quality preventive and clinical services at facilities. Many developing countries still have high levels of child and maternal mortality. Against this background, it is timely that the Asia Europe Journal (AEJ) focuses on “Public health and vulnerable groups” in this edition. It is unacceptable that women and children are excluded from the benefits that economic development has brought, just because they are vulnerable. MNCH is a key for success in reducing poverty and fostering economic growth. Securing a healthy future for mothers and children is therefore a diplomatic objective of critical importance, and it is also a valuable investment. In order to save the lives of mothers and children, it is essential to deliver a sequence of health services, including anteand post-neonatal care at facilities with adequate equipment and human resources and necessary immunizations. As part of the new global health policy, Japan proposed for MNCH an assistance model called “EMBRACE,” an acronym for “Ensure Mothers and Babies Regular Access to Care,” to ensure the continuum of care from pre-pregnancy to after Asia Eur J (2011) 8:453–455 DOI 10.1007/s10308-010-0285-4