Greetings from the Director General

Bureau of International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM) is a leading organization concerning global health in Japan. We execute various activities based on our mission: "aiming to realize a world where all people have equal opportunity to lead a healthy life,“ the Bureau of International Health Cooperation provides support around the world, including low- and middle-income countries, to improve health care using our expertise and contributes to creating healthier lives for the people of Japan by bringing these experiences back to Japan."

In order to realize this mission, we also defined our vision as follows: “With the goal of creating a healthy society that “leave no one behind”, we strive to become one of the leading organizations in the field of global health.”

In 2020, COVID-19 marked a significant change in the field of global health. It made us realize that achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is not only a challenge for low- and middle-income countries, but also for high-income countries. Although pre-epidemic routines are returning, we must not forget the lessons learned at great cost and. think what is the most needed in the post-COVID era.

We developed five strategies and five priority areas to fulfill our mission and realize our vision.

As a group of experts in the field of global health, we will expand our collaboration with the national governmental institutions such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Japan International Cooperation Agency; international organizations such as the WHO; universities, research institutes, and academic associations; non-governmental organizations; and private companies. Under such collaboration, we will dispatch experts for technical cooperation activities, contribute to policy formulations, conduct research, train domestic and overseas health professionals, and promote innovative programs.

Recently in the global community, it is said that the post-COVID-19 world should go beyond build back better to build forward better. We will also aim to build forward better, by making use of our over 30 years’ experience in the field of global health. We are committed to realizing a sustainable and diverse society in which “no one is left behind”.

I thank you for your kind support and cooperation.

  
September 2023  

Dr. Chieko Ikeda
Director General,

Bureau of International Health Cooperation,
National Center for Global Health and Medicine,
Japan