International Community Health

Mission statements: To seek equity and equality in health and health care, and social justice within and across the nations with caring, sharing and compassionate spirit, by the people, with the people and for the people, by means of comprehensive and integrated scientific research and education on health and health care, and social development in collaboration with other related institutes of various disciplines including universities, governmental and non-governmental organizations and private sectors.Aim: To bring together the clinical, public health and social science research to address the broad issues of health and health care.Goals: 1) To investigate how to change the status quo by improving health status of the most vulnerable, the most underprivileged and the poorest of the poor; 2) To undertake research on the influences of 'globalization' and 'free market' system on health and social development; 3) To investigate the mechanisms to reduce inequalities between and within nations on health and development; 4) To develop the mechanisms to link the above three goals with individual research activities described below.Objectives and research projects; individual projects and programs are: 1) PHC components declared at Alma Ata, particularly focusing on health education, nutrition including micronutrients (e.g., in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia), MCH/reproductive health (e.g., in Yemen, Maldives, Cambodia, Indonesia and Japan), EPI (e.g., in Laos), prevention and control of locally endemic diseases including tuberculosis, leprosy (in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar), HIV/AIDS (in Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Japan), appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries including bronchitis and asthma in children (in Bangladesh, Nepal) and essential drugs policy (in Viet Nam), 2) Emerging and reemerging health problems such as non-communicable diseases (stroke and cardiovascular diseases in both developing and developed countries like Japan), environmental degradation related diseases (in Kazakhstan), 3) Evaluation of health interventions in Japan (Hi-tech equipment and health-check in Japan), 4) Health policy (e.g., district health system in Cambodia and Zambia), 5) Advocacy role for human rights, refugees, war and conflicts, code of conduct, reproductive health and rights and poverty eradication and 6) Disaster relief/medicine.