International Collaboration Exchange Program #4 small meeting topic of International Health System

Hi, I am Daichi Muramatsu. Today, I would like to share what we discussed in the small meeting of ICE program.

The topic was International Health Systems, which Dr. Alexander Preker studies and have a speech in coming major session.

In the small meeting we had three questions to discuss,

・Compare how the health system (ex. health insurance policies) is organized in different countries

・What are the benefits or major current issues of the health systems (ex. inequality of access)

・What are your views on implementation of telehealth?

Answering these questions was not difficult as we are proud of universal health care system in Japan and telehealth in Japan has recently finally accelerated under the covid-19. But as for English it was pretty tough. When the words ”first visit” and “ GP(general doctor, family physician)” slipped completely my mind I got a cold sweat.

Members of ICE program are very kind and wait me talking but I need to train myself not to make geniuses tired of listening samurai-accent.

If you are intarested in the topic, read 

Preker AS, Cotlear D, Kwon S, Atun R, Avila C. Universal health care in middle-income countries: Lessons from four countries. J Glob Health. 2021 Nov 20;11:16004. doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.16004. PMID: 34912557; PMCID: PMC8645236.

Thanks!