Japan Press Weekly

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2023 February 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

JCP Miyamoto: Kishida gov’t should not use public hospitals’ reserve funds to finance huge arms buildup

Japanese Communist Party Lower House member Miyamoto Toru on February 1 at a House Budget Committee meeting said that to finance a huge military buildup, it is unacceptable for the Kishida government to use public funds for healthcare services and for smaller businesses.

According to the JCP lawmaker, the Kishida government, in order to secure funds for a huge arms buildup, intends to require independent administrative agencies, the National Hospital Organization (NHO) and the Japan Community Healthcare Organization (JCHO), to return a portion of their reserve funds to the national coffers by labeling these funds as “unessential savings”. The amount that the NHO and the JCHO may be asked to return amounts to 42.2 billion yen and 32.4 billion yen, respectively.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said that the return of a portion of the reserve funds will not affect the two organizations’ plans to improve their facilities.

In response, Miyamoto pointed out that the revision of the Infectious Diseases Control Law last year obliges the NHO and the JCHO to provide healthcare services when a pandemic occurs and that based on the revision, the JCHO in its mid-term management policy plans to renovate aging hospitals. Miyamoto added that 15 of 57 JCHO-affiliated healthcare facilities are operated beyond the government-set maximum service life of 39 years.

The JCP lawmaker quoted JCHO President Yamamoto Shuichi as saying that the organization’s savings totaling 67.5 billion yen is not enough to cover the planned renovation cost. He said that the government’s attempt to take away a half of the JCHO’s reserve funds indicates that the government does not prioritize the protection of people’s health from infectious diseases.

Furthermore, Miyamoto noted that for military expansion, the government plans to use a 200-billion-yen fund established to support small businesses struggling with pandemic-induced financial difficulties, saying that such an act is unacceptable.

Past related article:
> Public hospital workers’ unions protest Kishida gov’t attempt to use hospitals’ reserve funds for military buildup [December 10, 2022]