History of the Bureau of International Health Cooperation

1986: Department of International Medical Cooperation was founded.

In 1979, as the Government of Japan decided to provide medical assistance to Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand, International Medical Center of Japan (IMCJ), for the first time, dispatched medical doctors to the camps. While the dispatchment of doctors continued, in October 1986, the Department of International Medical Cooperation was formally founded. At first, there were only 5 doctors and 3 administrative staff.

Department’s activity, which started as an emergency assistance to refugee camps, gradually expanded to human resource development in health sector in developing countries. Numerous health staff were dispatched to hospitals constructed by grant aid of the Government of Japan and they implemented medical technology assistance including diagnosis and treatment.

While implementing cooperation in hospitals, it was recognized that only limited number of residents can benefit from health services. Assistance to health administration that bear community health services was considered important. Accordingly, our focus of technical assistance shifted from facility-based to community-based health system development.

The Bureau has transformed to an organization that collaborates with clinics/health centers, health staff, health administration, educational facilities and community organizations that surround hospitals, and assists institutional development of health services along with community health administration.

In 2009, the Bureau of International Medical Cooperation was designated as the WHO Collaboration Centre for Health Systems Research.

In 2010, the IMCJ was renamed as the National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM). The Bureau of International Medical Cooperation was renamed as the Department of International Medical Cooperation.

In 2015, NCGM was designated as a National Research and Development Corporation, and the Bureau of International Medical Cooperation was renamed as the Bureau of International Health Cooperation.

In the health sector, for improved efficacy of aids, aid coordination among various aid agencies and organizations has been pursued. The Bureau of International Health Cooperation aims to contribute to the aid coordination by attending various international conferences and missions, and work as a WHO Collaboration Centre since 2009 to feedback field-based knowledge to the international society.

Also, the focus of assistance is shifting from technical assistance to policy assistance.