About the Department of International Health and Collaboration

The Department of International Health and Collaboration was newly established at the National Institute of Public Health in 2011, in order to plan, coordinate, implement, and evaluate international cooperation activities on community health and medical service. We analyze relevant domestic and international information; carry out research on skills to foster personnel engaging in international health activities, and train them; and build partnerships/collaborative relationships with relevant bodies. To attain these purposes, we attend related international meetings as an expert, based on our collaborations with international organization such as WHO and OECD. In particular, we focuse on collaboration with WHO, thus it has developed activities as a WHO Collaborating Center in the field of Integrated People-Centred Services Delivery. Furthermore, we have been continually implementing two joint programs associated with NCDs and medical safety at the National Institute of Public Health.
We also conduct some international training courses based on collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) so that government officials in the health field in developing countries can utilize the knowledge and experiences related to community health in Japan. Through the multifaceted collaboration between our department and relevant affiliates in Japan and overseas, fostering of personnel for public health activities from an international perspective has been promoted.
In terms of research activities, by obtaining some public research funds, such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s scientific research grants, we analyze international health information centering around universal health coverage (UHC), noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and elderly health activities. In these researches, we provide scientific findings regarding community health and health policy in Japan.