Japan's vision for a peaceful and healthier world.

Health is fundamentally a global issue. Recent outbreaks of Ebola virus disease and Middle East respiratory syndrome have reminded us that global health issues require collective action. The world must unite and countries must establish resilient and sustainable health systems, ensuring that each individual is secure and receives the highest attainable standard of health. Japan has been a longstanding advocate of human security and has taken concrete action on the ground in support of this principle. Human security protects the vital core of all human lives in a way that enhances freedom, fulfilment, and capabilities and underlies Japan’s policy of Proactive Contribution to Peace. Japan regards health as an indispensable element of human security. In September, 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which includes universal health coverage (UHC), to which Japan attached great importance during the negotiation process. Achieving UHC requires comprehensive changes to systems, human resources, and public awareness. To catalyse such changes, leaders must commit to leave no one behind in the drive for the best attainable health gains. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have created an opportunity to connect sectors and empower individuals, families, and communities. It is crucial that we agree on a monitoring and evaluation framework so that the impact of UHC against investment is measurable and thus attainable. Japan will host the first G7 Summit after the adoption of the SDGs in May, 2016. Alongside the G7 Health Minister’s Meeting, and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, Japan will create an opportunity for countries and partners to discuss concrete steps towards achieving new goals, while sharing Japan’s relevant experiences, so that we can move forward together with this new agenda. Japan’s global health priorities are to construct a global health architecture that can respond to public health crises and to build resilient and sustainable health systems. To realise these goals, Japan has endorsed two new global health strategies: the Basic Design for Peace and Health and the Basic Guidelines for Strengthening Measures on Emerging Infectious Diseases. I would like to underline the importance of these priorities and foster succinct and relevant discussions during our G7 presidency in 2016. First, in preparation for the G7 Summit, we will discuss how to address the challenges of public health emergencies. The existing global health architecture must be restructured to ensure prompt and effective responses to public health emergencies. Public and private partners, government, and civil society—at global, regional, country, and community levels—should reach agreement on their respective roles in advance of emergencies. Japan expects WHO to have the lead role in prompt detection and containment, especially in the early stages of a public health emergency, while acknowledging WHO’s need for further reform and capacity strengthening. Japan is ready to support this reform process, including the launch of the Contingency Fund for Emergencies. Japan also fully supports the efforts of the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Facility, and calls for coordination between WHO and the World Bank to ensure the two mechanisms have supplementary and complementary roles so that they increase efficiency and effectiveness in crises responses. Second, we will discuss strategies to build resilient, sustainable national health systems. In the past 70 years, Japan’s life expectancy increased by more than 30 years and, since the early 1980s, health outcomes have consistently been top ranked. These achievements are the result of the establishment of universal health insurance in 1961, favourable proximal determinants of health, such as healthy diet and access to clean water,