Tag Archives: drug safety in Japan

Health Education in Japan

Posted by on June 3, 2011 Comments Off

Japanese have been very health conscious people. Japanese CROs have played a very important part in promoting medical research and drug safety in Japan. These organizations carry out clinical research studies by the experts in Japan. They are clinical research professionals. Japanese CRO’s have been one of the major reasons for Japan’s medical advancement.

Japan’s first measure towards health promotion started in the early 1950’s. During the early 1960’s health education was launched. Later in the 1970’s this was turned into full fledged government health policy. All this was done to create awareness amongst the people. Since then, the government has been closely associated with the health education sector. The health budget has greatly improved and continues to improve every year. The expansion in this budget has made a significant difference to the mortality rates and the ageing structure.

As of late, special emphasis has been laid on the health education concerning the HIV/AIDS. Many companies have taken it upon themselves to educate their employees and create awareness regarding HIV/AIDS. And also to discuss the prevention measures. A major reason for this has been the fact that many companies often send their employees to other under developed, third world countries. These countries often have these diseases prevailing in very high rates. The number of infected people is fairly high and it is not always possible to identify them. Therefore this awareness seems to be one of the basic prerequisites of sending the employees on such job locations. It is also one of the ethical responsibilities of the company toward their employees to warn them against the basic health threats they may face.

Different companies adopt different methods of going about this issue. Many companies ask their employees to fill out questionnaires. These questionnaires judge their knowledge on the subject matter in hand and give the employers an idea as to how much the employees know about HIV/AIDS and its prevention. It also lets them know what percentage of employees is aware of this medical situation. Once this is done, companies often hire medical professionals or health instructors to conduct a seminar or a course for the employees. If need be, personal counseling is also done.

Another area where a lot of emphasis has been laid is the health education of nurses. This has been done to fight the problem of child abuse. Child abuse has been a grave problem in Japan.  Mistreatment of children has been a major problem; health education of nurses is a measure to combat this situation and to prevent it in the future.

Drug Safety in Japan

Posted by on May 20, 2011 Comments Off

Japan has its own drug safety laws which are different from those of other countries in various ways. Before a pharmaceutical product is sold in the Japanese market, it needs to pass Japan’s strict test and in getting the nod from the Japanese authority a Japanese contract research organization (CRO) can be very helpful.

Japan has taken several drug safety measures in the past years and is expected to propose new ones. Japanese authorities study ways to improve drugs and postmarketing surveillance. Among other things, Japan has standardized warning labels and has rules for product names. A Japanese contract research organization can offer professional guidance to pharmaceutical companies so that they can update their products with the changes in Japanese drug safety measures.

Pharmaceutical companies which are new to the shore of Japan can face problems due to unfamiliarity with the Japanese system. A Japanese CRO can offer special assistance to these companies who are willing to invest in the Japanese pharmaceutical market with their expertise in Japan’s drug safety measures and related fields. For setting up pharmaceutical business in Japan this assistance can be extremely beneficiary, because with sound knowledge of the Japanese system the Japanese CROs are also very familiar with drug safety measures taken by other countries, so they can guide a company in the right direction with the right kind of help. Start-up companies can also benefit from the expertise of a CRO.

Some services from contract research organizations include the preparation of a standard operating procedure in accordance with the Japanese standards. It helps in the general business processing on drug safety and offers consultancy services to pharmaceutical companies as to how they can be compliant with the drug safety measures and laws in the country. They also offer assistance with application service and risk management. In short, they offer all the guidance a pharmaceutical company needs to set up business in Japan.