JCP Ichida demands drastic increase in number of physicians

   Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi in the House of Councilors plenary session on January 23 shed light on the “collapse of Japan’s medical services” in which serious shortages of physicians, coupled with mergers and closings of public hospitals, have created the situation in which many pregnant women are unable to find a hospital to give birth at.

   Because of closures of pediatrics and obstetrical departments as well as hospitals due to the shortage of doctors, Japan’s number of hospitals and clinics that can assist women in giving birth sharply decreased from 6,398 in 2001 to 3,063 in 2006.

   The number of medical institutions providing emergency medical treatment decreased by 10 percent in the same period, causing increasing deaths of patients due to the unavailability of such medical institutions.

   “The government has implemented its policy to reduce the number of students to be admitted to medical schools in order to restrain increases in medical costs. Now is the time to put an end to such a policy and drastically increase the number of physicians,” Ichida stated.

   The number of Japan’s active physicians is 260,000, 140,000 less than the average of 30 OECD countries in relative terms. As a result, physicians working at hospitals are forced to work longer and more intensively. Due to such harsh working conditions, they opt to retire early, causing further shortages.

   The government insists that physicians are unevenly distributed to localities, denying doctor shortages. “Is there any prefecture in Japan that has more than enough physicians?” Ichida asked Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo, but Fukuda could not respond.

   The prime minister justified the tax system earmarked for road construction by stating, “It is necessary to secure good road access to emergency hospitals.” Ichida, however, severely denounced the prime minister, stating, “While forcing many hospitals to shut down, you are promoting road construction to secure access to hospitals. This is putting the cart before the horse.”

   Ichida demanded that the government stop the mergers, closings, and downsizing of public hospitals that are essential for local residents and implement policies to encourage public hospitals to take the lead in maintaining pediatrics and obstetrical departments as well as emergency medical services.
- Akahata, January 24, 2008