Japan Press Weekly

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2014 September 10 - 16 [WELFARE]

Gov’t insists on people’s self-help self-care efforts

The health and welfare ministry on September 8 compiled a basic medical- and nursing-care policy which firmly calls for people’s own efforts for self-help and self-care, making necessary welfare programs out of some people’s reach.

The government is supposed to have the duty to ensure welfare programs available for all the people under the Constitution, but the basic policy urges the general public in need of a medical or nursing-care service to continue living in their community with minimum government assistance.

Aiming at drastic cuts in social welfare spending, the basic policy discourages patients and service users from going outside their home or their community and counting on government services too much.

The state actually wants to limit its role only to policymaking and assisting people’s self-help efforts. It instead intends to leave the provision of services and the creation of a provision system to local municipalities, and encourages people to join volunteer groups to provide services.

The basic policy calls for people’s own efforts for self-help and self-care, not for the improvement of medical and nursing-care services. It also calls for the use of funds from consumption tax revenues for curtailment of more services such as further cuts in the number of hospital beds.

The excuse used for the need to increase the consumption tax rate, the expansion of welfare programs, has turned out to be a big lie.