The 116th HGPI Seminar "Toward the Review of the National Immunization Plan: What Immunization and Vaccine Policies are Needed in the Post-COVID-19 Era"

[Overview]

Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) will hold the 116th HGPI seminar in conjunction with World Immunization Week, a week designated by the World Health Organization (WHO). During World Immunization Week, from April 24 to 30, various activities to promote immunization and vaccines will be held around the world under the theme of “The Big Catch-Up”.

Since FY2020, HGPI has been engaged in discussions with experts from Japan and abroad and has been promoting policy advocacy activities to promote immunization and vaccine policies based on a life-course approach. Thanks in part to the activities of this project and others, by the end of FY2022, the government has even restarted discussions on the review of the ” National Immunization Plan ” which had been delayed due to COVID-19 and other factors.

Following the experience of the outbreak of COVID-19, the public health value of vaccinations and vaccines has been reaffirmed worldwide. In Japan, the establishment of the Strategic Center of Biomedical Advanced Vaccine Research and Development for Preparedness and Response (SCARDA) and other R&D, production and supply systems are already underway. On the other hand, the following issues have been identified as challenges: delays in the digitization of immunization administration; the division of roles, responsibilities, and costs among the national, prefectural, and municipal governments; and the classification of immunization diseases and the related process of making immunization routine.

The National Immunization Plan is supposed to provide a medium- to long-term vision for future immunizations, and the Immunization Act clearly states that the plan should be “reviewed at least every five years. However, changes to the plan are limited to “when deemed necessary,” and no new changes have been made since 2014. Now that the review discussion has restarted, this is an opportunity to look back at Japan’s immunization and vaccine policies from a medium- to long-term perspective based on a life-course approach and overcome the challenges, including the way the National Immunization Plan is operated and the challenges represented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, at this HGPI seminar we will welcome Dr. Nobuhiko Okabe, Director General of the Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health. Dr. Okabe has served as the chairperson of the Subcommittee of Basic Policy about Immunization in Immunization and Vaccine Meeting of the MHLW Health Science Council and is currently a counselor of the Cabinet Secretariat. Dr. Okabe will discuss the issues both in Japan and abroad that have been clarified or left behind by the COVID-19 pandemic. While “catching up” (The Big Catch-Up) we would like to make this an opportunity to comprehensively consider the points to be discussed when proceeding with a review of the National Immunization Plan, toward a system that allows anyone to be vaccinated and vaccinated at any time in their lives.

*Please note that this seminar is available in Japanese only. An English report of this event will be published in due course.