Universal Health Coverage For Inclusive And Sustainable Development: Lessons From Japan

Universal Health Coverage For Inclusive And Sustainable Development: Lessons From Japan
by Naoki Ikegami / / / PDF


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In 2011, Japan celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of achieving universal health coverage. The government of Japan and the World Bank agreed to undertake a multicountry study to respond to this growing demand from low- and middle-income countries to share the rich and varied experiences from countries at different stages of adopting and implementing universal health coverage strategies, including Japan itself. Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Japan brings together 10 in- depth studies on different aspects of Japan's universal health coverage experience as lessons for government leaders and health policy makers from low and middle-income countries that are developing and implementing strategies toward universal health coverage. Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Japan offers an overview of the political, historical, and macroeconomic context and examines challenges of maintaining universal health coverage in Japan in the face of an aging population. Japan's fee schedule that is applied to all programs and virtually all providers has played a key role in containing costs and pursuing policy objectives by setting a defacto global budget and by making item-by-item revisions. In addition, the book explores the factors determining the allocation of physicians in rural and urban sectors in Japan, and the critical role of licensed practical nurses in addressing nursing shortages and the different perspectives on deploying these categories of health workers. Japan's commitment to universal health coverage played a key role in the country's economic recovery in the post-World War II period, and it helped to develop a vibrant middle class and secure social stability by ensuring that the benefits of economic growth was shared equitably across the population. The book provides a cross-section of Japan's experience to help other countries identify elements of success and failure that could inform their own universal health coverage strategy.

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