May 21

J-News Mini-Roundup: Policy Reactions to the Swine Flu in Japan

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J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese language learning options.

Background With the threat of the Swine Flu unabated in Japan, government agencies are going to great lengths to come up with forward-thinking policies to prevent an overall pandemic. Both on a local and national level Japan is rethinking its quarantine and treatment practices. Each newspaper reported a different policy being taken by taken by each level of government.

Asahi “The National Response: Split by Region” The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced its policy of a splitting the country by region if the flu is to spread further. According to the Ministry this policy would give them “room to maneuver” in their policy reactions per region. The regions suggested would be “Confirmed Region”, “Infected Region”, and “Unborn Region”. The unborn region is a region where no cases of the flu have yet been reported. The confirmed region is a region where cases of the flu have been reported, but only one by one, where the spread from person to person within that area has not yet occurred. The Infected Region is a region where it’s spreading from person to person. A statement from a ministry official said “we’re trying to revamp our policies this week as much as possible.”

Nikkei “New Policy for Small Hospitals” Within infected regions such as Kobe City, the Japanese government is looking into a policy …

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