Japan-hospitals : the journal of the Japan Hospital Association
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The M9.0 great earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011 triggered a huge tsunami on the Pacific coast in the Tohoku region and caused enormous damage, resulting in 15,854 deaths and 3,276 missing persons (as of March 1, 2012, according to the Japanese National Police Agency). Presently, inhabitants in Fukushima Prefecture continue to live as refugees because of radiation contamination caused by explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plants. Immediately after the earthquake, DMATs (Disaster Medical Assistance Teams) went to the affected areas to begin relief operations. ⋯ However, since Hanamaki Airport in the inland area of Iwate Prefecture became usable starting in mid-May, we arrived in Hanamaki City by air and used a large taxi from the airport. In accordance with the recovery of local medical institutions, the Osaka Medical Association JAMT dispatch was to be terminated by the end of May. As a result, our team's itinerary was reduced to three days and two nights, leaving on the morning of May 27 (by air), and returning to Osaka on the evening of May 29 (by air).
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New Zealand is a little country with a little economy but with a population that's rapidly aging. New Zealand's population is only 4.3 million people. It's GDP is only $US58.6 billion (2002). ⋯ That plan must create an environment which facilitates, encourages and supports greater private investment in healthcare facilities and healthcare delivery. Incentives must be created to motivate individuals to take greater responsibility for their healthcare needs and the funding of it. The development of a long term strategy to meet the challenges of the aging population is a priority.
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Since 1988, there has been a noted increase in the use of emergency transportation by tuberculosis patients in Japan. Therefore it is necessary to build a suitable emergency medical care system for these patients. We evaluated the present emergency medical care system available to them in Tokyo. ⋯ We also analized transportation data from the point of view of municipal districts (wards, cities, towns, villages), MCSAs and the Tokubetsuku region. We concluded that the number of emergency transports for tuberculosis patients has gradually been increasing and that the currently MCSA regions were not ideal for use in developing a transportation system for these patients. Using larger areas such as Tokubetsu-ku and Tokyotoka would be more practical emergency medical care system for tuberculosis patients in Tokyo, it will be necessary to take into account the Tokubetsu-ku area, the vagrant population within it, and the time required to transport the patients from this area to the Tokyotoka area.