JOICFP NEWS NO. 242 AUGUST 1994
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- Title
- JOICFP NEWS NO. 242 AUGUST 1994
- extracted text
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NO. 242 August 1994
( nOCV^?
ISSN 0911-0755
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JOICFP NEWS
[ i Call for Action on Disarmament & Population
Fukuda warns of consequences
of increasing world population at
InterAction Council session
Takeo Fukuda, former prime minister of
Japan, and president of JOICFP, opened the
12th session of the InterAction Council in
Dresden, Germany, with a speech on June 7.
The council was established in 1983 in Vienna
by Fukuda and other former heads of state
including former chancellor of Germany,
Helmut Schmidt. The main purpose of the
group is to consider and discuss long-term
global issues and make recommendations that
can contribute to world peace. The group
addresses three priority issues on a continuous
basis: world peace and disarmament; global
problems of population increase, environmental
degradation, resource and energy questions:
and the question of activating the world
economy. This year's session was held from
June 7-10 and was attended by representatives
of over 20 countries. Below are excerpts of
Fukuda’s speech.
The cold war structure has crumbled and
mankind is given a historic chance to construct
a new era of genuine world peace. However,
amid such a change, the stockpiled nuclear
weapons still exist today, and the nuclear arms
suspicion in North Korea poses a new threat to
the world. Under such a situation, the role of
multilateral organizations, particularly the UN,
has become increasingly important.
Although the principal parameter of the
world's political management has been EastWest relations, I believe that henceforth it
should encompass North-Soulh-Easl-West the entire world. For that reason also,
multilateral institutions should be further
strengthened. I particularly feel that special
attention should be paid to the neglected NorthSouth relations.
Ever since mankind was created, we have
been under the illusion that the resources,
energy and environment, which are
indispensable to our existence, are infinitely
available, and we have lived a myriad of
Takeo Fukuda, former prime minister of Japan, and president of JOICFP, in Tokyo.
millenniums without much concern. However,
the emergence of the mass-consumption society
brought on by economic development proves
with facts that such a perception is erroneous. I
have termed this the “advent of the era of finite
resources and environment” and have warned
the world for many years about this.
Moreover, the rapidly increasing global
population is further complicating and making
it arduous to cope with this issue. Unless we
alleviate these global problems encompassing
population, global environment, resources and
energy, we cannot promise a future for our
posterity.
The world population is increasing by 100
million each year. It was 1.6 billion at the
beginning of this century but is assumed to
increase to 6.4 billion at the end of the century,
to 8 billion in the year 2020 and an appalling 10
billion by 2050.
How is this earth with finite resources
going to sustain this explosively increasing
population? Resources, energy, environment
1
and global population are a mutually linked set
of problems. Among them, the population
problem requires particularly critical but
difficult measures. I believe the importance of
recognizing this problem can never be over
stressed. In particular, I am convinced that we
must now address the problem of balancing the
rapidly increasing population with food supply.
The International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD) will be convened this
fall in Cairo. Egypt. Il is my earnest wish that
this conference will attain the best possible
results for the survival of our planet and
mankind. And I greatly hope that the
InterAction Council will come up with
convincing recommendations. I am hoping that
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
will make an authoritative forecast on the
supply and demand relationship between
population and food and come up with
measures to cope with this problem.
The InterAction Council will hold its 13th
session in Tokyo in 1995.
Japan
Women Call for more
Contraceptive Choice
The low-dose oral contraceptive pill should
be authorized in Japan to widen accessibility to
contraception. That was the conclusion of the
Symposium for Discussing the Reproductive
Health of
Women, held in
Yokohama on
June 25. The
symposium was
attended by a
mostly female
audience of 400
and organized
by the Japan
Family
Planning
Association
Hans M. Verner
(JFPA). The
event com
memorated JFPA's establishment 40 years ago.
The issue of the pill was taken up by the
first keynote speaker. Dr. Masahiko Hiroi.
Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) Depart
ment. School of Medicine, University of
Yamagata, who spoke on “Reproductive health
Meeting Old Friends
Dr. Halfdan Mahler, secretary
general, IPPF, met with leaders of major
Japanese family planning (FP)
organizations including the Family
Planning
Federation
Aof Japan
jg ■
(FPFJ),
Japan
Family
Planning
Association
(JFPA) and JOICFP during his slay in
Japan from May 24 - 27. Shidzue Kato,
president. FPFJ. was among the FP
pioneers who joined discussions. Mahler
also exchanged information about
population, FP and related global issues
with Michihiko Kano, head. New Vision
Party, and senior vice chairman. Japan
Parliamentarians Federation for
Population (JPFP).
n-Jw
1 r i ww
- the role of female hormones.” Advocating the
pill, Hiroi said that from the viewpoint of
reproductive health, the pill should be consid
ered as an effective means of contraception.
Hiroi added that clinical trials had proved that
the pill is an effective contraceptive method.
The next keynote speaker. Dr. Yoshihide
Kimura, director general. OBGYN Department,
Sanraku Hospital, introduced a unique
survey on induced abortion conducted at
his hospital. The survey, conducted over 8
years, found a large number of unwanted
pregnancies caused by failures of with
drawal, rhythm method or condoms. To
avoid unwanted pregnancy, women should
have a wider choice of contraceptive
methods including the pill, he said.
The panel discussion served as the
highlight of the symposium. Coordinated
by Dr. Kunio Kitamura, director, Ichigaya
Clinic, JFPA, the discussion brought two
panelists with opposing views together.
The first. Dr. Tomoko Saotome, OBGYN,
Aoyama Hospital, argued that the pill
should be used as an effective method for
preventing pregnancy, while the condom should
be promoted as an effective means to prevent
the spread of HIV/AIDS.
However, Chizuko Ikegami, representative,
PLACE Tokyo (Positive Living And
Community Environment) rejected Saotome’s
view. The most important issue, she said, is to
provide people with wider access to
contraception based on informed choice and not
to stress one method over another. Moreover,
couples should be encouraged to communicate
and make mutual decisions about contraception,
she said. To prove her point, Ikegami
commented that the rate of teenage pregnancy
increased in the U.S. after the pill was
authorized. The reason, she argued, was that as
more emphasis was placed on the pill, men took
less responsibility for contraception.
Dr. Hans M. Verner, member, International
Committee of Research in Reproduction,
Switzerland, added to the debate by comment
ing that teenage pregnancy did not rise in
Europe after the pill’s authorization because
adolescent health education was incorporated
into the education system.
The symposium also drew attention to the
vulnerability of women to AIDS in a special
lecture entitled, “Women and AIDS."
2
Japanese People
Boost NGOs
Funds donated by the Japanese people were
allocated to JOICFP by the Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications on June 27 to assist
people in six developing countries in 1994
(July 1, 1994 - June 30. 1995). The funds were
donated under the Postal Savings for Interna
tional Voluntary Aid (POSIVA) scheme,
previously called the Voluntary Deposit for
JOICFP Deputy Executive Director Yasuo Kon
receives POSIVA funds from the minister.
International Aid (VDIA) scheme. JOICFP was
the third-largest recipient of funds in this year’s
allocation, receiving a total of ¥74.282 million
(US$701,000 at an official exchange rate of
¥106 to US$1). The funds collected by the
ministry in 1993 for allocation in 1994 came to
¥2.36 billion (US$22.3 million).
Under the scheme, members of the public
donate 20% of the interest accumulated on
savings held in special POSIVA accounts at
post office branches throughout the country.
The number of POSIVA accounts reached 14.51
million at the end of March 1994. The funds
are then distributed by the ministry to Japanese
non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
which use them to provide assistance to NGO
counterparts in developing countries. A total of
197 Japanese NGOs received funds for 261
projects in developing countries this year.
The funds received by JOICFP are being
utilized to raise the health of women and
children and promote community development
in Brazil, China, Ghana, Guatemala, Tanzania
and Vietnam.
Specifically, the funds will be used to
purchase materials and equipment to support
grassroots activities promoted under the
Integrated Project (IP) in respective countries.
JOICFP NEWS, August 1994
Japan
Childbirth a Question for Couples
to Decide
2.00
f 1.75
The decrease in Japan’s total fertility rate
(TFR) to a new low of 1.46 in 1993 may
reinforce concern about the rapid aging of
Japanese society and boost calls from politi
cians and the business circle for women to bear
Yuriko Ashino
more children, says Yuriko Ashino, deputy
executive director. Family Planning Federation
of Japan (FPFJ). “Since government and
business are already afraid of declining fertility
New Publication
A new book published by the
Population Problems Research Council of
the Mainichi Shimbun provides a concise
overview of the population trends of
Japan over the last 50 years. Entitled The
Population and Society
of Postwar Japan Based on Haifa
Century’ of Surveys on
Family Planning, the
book incorporates
analyses of different
aspects of population
written by prominent
population experts. The analyses reflect
information gathered by the institute in its
biannual knowledge, attitude and practice
(KAP) surveys, which it has conducted
since 1950. The survey is the only source
of information on family planning of its
kind in Japan and earned the council the
UN Population Award in 1993.
JOICFP NEWS. August 1994
in Japan, this may further strengthen their
pronatalist attitudes.”
Ashino, who is a member of the Japan's
Network for Women and Health, Cairo ’94,
argues that motherhood is a question of choice
and should not be forced on women in the form
of government policy. “Instead of pressuring
women to have babies, the government should
foster a social environment in which women
won’t feel that having children is such.a
burden,” she says.
To create such an environment, Ashino calls
for more supportive systems such as fully paid
child-care leave as well as a change in the value
system. “The notion that women should stay at
home and raise children needs to be changed,”
she says. Changes should also be made in the
labor system to allow men to contribute more to
child rearing, she adds. "If it is the choice of
couples to have only 1.46 children, then the
government should accept this and change
policies to ensure that people living in a lowfertility society can lead satisfying lives.”
According to the Ministry of Health and
Welfare, the TFR. or number of babies born to a
woman, dropped 0.4 points from 1.50 in 1992
to reach the 1.46 mark, the second-lowest TFR
in the industrialized world after Italy’s 1.26.
The ministry also reported that the number of
babies born in Japan fell by 20,672 from 1992
to 1.18 million in 1993. At the peak of Japan’s
second baby boom in 1973, 2.9 million babies
were born within the year.
As in previous years, the ministry partly
attributed the decline in fertility to the growing
trend for women to marry later and bear
children later. In the report, it noted that the
average age of first marriage for women rose
from 26 in 1992 to 26.1 years in 1993, while
the average age at which women bear their first
child rose to a record 27.2 years in 1993.
However, Ashino and other concerned
women dispute the ministry’s analysis. “Due to
advances in medical technologies, women can
now bear children much later,” she says.
“Therefore, the later age of marriage and first
child should not necessarily affect a woman's
ability to have more than 1.46 children.”
The women also reject previous arguments
from the government that the higher education
of women in Japan is affecting the birthrate.
According to Ashino, the statistics do not bear
this out in Japan since women of all educational
3
i
<2 1.50
1.25 L-
1975
1980
1985
1990
Changes in Japan’s total fertility rate
(1975-1993)
backgrounds are choosing to have fewer
children. “This argument also implies that
women should not receive higher education,"’
she says. “This makes women angry.”
“Having children concerns two people,”
says Ashino. “Thus, the government should
place more emphasis on men’s participation and
responsibility for contraception, child-rearing
and household work.” Ashino believes,
however, that the government would like
women to stay home not only to rear children,
but to serve as care-givers for the increasing
number of elderly. “These two responsibilities
are now major factors that restrict a woman
from leading a fuller life outside the home.”
“Since the 1994 UN International Confer
ence on Population and Development (ICPD) is
to be held in September, we should also
consider Japan's fertility issues in relation with
other countries,” says Ashino. “Japan is the
leading contributor to UNFPA. This implies
that Japan is pushing the concept of ‘smaller
families, happier families’ in developing
countries,” she says. “But at home, it is urging
Japanese women to bear more children. This is
quite a contradiction.”
“2050” NGO Debuts
A new Japanese non-governmental
organization (NGO) named “2050” was
inaugurated on May 15 in a ceremony in
Tokyo. Headed by Katsuhide Kitatani,
senior advisor, UNFPA, the NGO is
aimed at creating awareness of population
issues, conducting research and study
tours and promoting international
cooperation. The name “2050” symbol
izes the year 2050 in which world
population is expected to reach 10 billion.
Population Symposium
Expectations High in Japan
for ICPD
Symposium participants look
toward the ICPD in Cairo in
September
A symposium to mark World Population
Day was held in Tokyo on July 14. In a fitting
turnout to the event held ahead of the UN
International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) in Cairo. Egypt, the
Takeo Fukuda
majority of the over 300 members of the
audience were women. The gathering, dubbed
the “Japan Population Conference” Sympo
sium. was named after the first “Japan
Population
Conference”
held 20 years
before, prior to
the World
Population
Conference in
Bucharest.
Romania, in
1974. The
event, which
took the theme
Katsuhide Kitatani
of “The ICPD
and the role of
Japan," concluded with participants agreeing on
a set of recommendations for the ICPD entitled
the “Tokyo Appeal."
The symposium was organized by the
Council on Population Education and JOICFP
in cooperation with the Japan's Network for
Women and Health. Cairo '94. Population
Forum 21, the Family Planning Federation of
Japan (FPFJ) and Family Planning Association
1
of Japan (JFPA). It
was supported by
UNFPA, IPPF and the
IP Forum and attended
n
by the mass media,
t»
which brought
nationwide attention to
the event.
The symposium
began with an
opening address
by Takeo Fukuda,
/\ view of the panel discussion in progress at the symposium.
former prime
minister of Japan,
A leadership role for Japan in efforts to
and president of JOICFP, who served as
conference chairman. “Despite the end of solve population issues was strongly urged by
Dr. Nafis Sadik, executive director, UNFPA, in
the cold war, we still have enough atomic
weaponry to kill the world's population 60 a message conveyed by Katsuhide Kitatani,
senior advisor, UNFPA. “Japan can not only
times over,” he said. “The issue of
disarmament is still a most pressing one
provide financial support, but can share its
experiences in population and family planning
for humankind.” Noting the significance
of the issues of population, environment
(FP) toward the solution of problems,” said the
and development. Fukuda commented that message.
the ICPD is an important event for the
Ambassador of Egypt in Japan Mervat
entire world as it will determine the plan
Mehani Tallawy also spoke at the event and
of action for the next 20 years.
warned that “The population clock is ticking
An
NGOs Prepped for ICPD
Representatives of 15 Japanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were given an
outline of what to expect at the UN International Conference on Population and Develop
ment (ICPD) to be held in Cairo, Egypt, at an orientation meeting at the Embassy of Egypt
on July 15. Hosted by the Ambassador of Egypt in Japan Mervat Mehani Tallawy, the
meeting was open to those NGOs attending the
ICPD in September and to the mass media.
Providing a comprehensive outline of the
conference. Tallawy said that the agenda
includes many important issues such as social
and economic development, health and
education. However, the most important issue
J
for discussion will be women, she added.
Addressing the representatives, Tallawy
said that NGOs will have a more important role
to play in the field of population and develop
Mervat Mehani Tallawy
ment. She also had comments to make about
the important role that Japan can play in world
affairs. As a country with a peaceful constitution. Japan can do much to contribute to the
solution of important non-military issues such as population, the environment and poverty
alleviation, she said.
4
JOICFP NEWS, August 1994
Population Symposium
R
Ilk
1
I
it ”7V"
uw
■
Toshio Kuroda
continuously and will never stop.” Addressing
the audience, she added, “Any delay in
confronting the problem will have inevitable
serious consequences because those who are
born are our responsibilities. The ICPD, which
will be the major international population
conference of the decade, will provide a means
for governments and NGOs to share the
responsibility which the world has towards
future generations.”
The first keynote speaker was Dr. Toshio
Kuroda, director emeritus, Nihon University
Population Research Institute. Speaking as a
demographer. Kuroda commented that while
the importance of issues such as women’s
empowerment and reproductive health cannot
be neglected, the need to consider macro
population issues should not be overlooked.
The rapidly increasing world population will
have serious consequences for humankind and
deserves
attention, he
said.
Norio
Hat
tori,
deputy
director
general.
Bureau of
Economic
Cooperation.
o
Ministry of
Akiko Domoto
Foreign
Affairs, was
also a keynote speaker. Providing an outline of
the Global Issues Initiative (GII), Hattori
explained that the Japanese government has
taken leadership in this field and committed a
total of US$3 billion in official development
assistance over the next seven years for
population and AIDS. Under the GII, the
government will be depending heavily on the
support of NGOs, which will directly receive
JOICFP NEWS, August 1994
assistance under the initiative, he said.
The health of women and children,
primary health care, education programs
for the illiterate and the empowerment
of women are some of the areas that
will benefit under the GII, he said.
Coordinated by Dr. Minoru
Muramatsu, standing executive
director, FPFJ, the panel discussion
was marked by lively discussion
among the panelists.
The importance of an approach
that balances the micro and macro
views of population issues was
stressed by Yoichi Okazaki, professor,
Nihon University, who began the discus
sion. To get his point across, Okazaki
explained that the macro approach
indicates the sum of the behaviors of the
individuals at the micro level. Okazaki further
stressed that it was important not to lose sight
of the big picture of rapidly increasing
population. There are already too many people
on this earth, he added.
A very micro approach to population was
taken by Akiko Domoto, member of Parlia
ment. House of Councilors. Stressing that
women’s decisions and choices should be
widened, Domoto expressed her hope that the
ICPD would focus attention on the importance
of giving women more decision-making power.
She said that population policies have tended to
neglect women's issues, but after Cairo she
hoped to see more focus on women in the
policies of the many governments attending.
Domoto said that she hoped the concepts of
reproductive rights and health would be
broadened after the ICPD.
The other woman on the panel was Yoriko
Meguro, professor. Sophia University, who
reminded the audience that the 4th World
Conference on Women will be held in Beijing
in 1995. In consideration of this event, the
ICPD will be very important for creating a
positive setting for discussing issues related to
women, she said. Meguro also commented that
the concept of women in development needs to
be expanded to that of gender and development,
she said.
The effectiveness of NGOs in population
activities was emphasized by the last panelist,
Akihiko Yoshida, professor, Sanno Junior
College. Commenting that governments cannot
do everything, Yoshida said that NGOs have a
powerful effect at the community level. In
terms of women’s empowerment, Yoshida noted
the effectiveness of income-generating
activities for providing women with more
5
choices and higher status.
The symposium wound up with discussions
on the Tokyo Appeal, which were chaired by
Norio Hattori
Masaaki Yasukawa, professor, Meikai Univer
sity, and secretary-general, Council on
Population Education.
Tokyo Appeal
In anticipation of the ICPD in Cairo,
Egypt, in September, the participants of
the symposium put forward recommenda
tions on what the Japanese people should
plan and implement and what roles Japan
should assume as a member of the global
community in the 21st century. The
recommendations were presented as the
“Tokyo Appeal.”
The document notes that the concept
of reproductive health and rights is
increasingly recognized as being
indispensable to improving women’s
status the world over. “In the foreign aid
projects of the Japanese government, now
the world’s largest official development
assistance donor, the women’s point of
view should be incorporated and practical
steps need to be taken,” it states.
Meanwhile, the document urges the
Japanese prime minister to attend the
ICPD to proclaim the government’s
political commitment based on the Global
Issues Initiative (GII) to the world
community. The appeal demands that
women representatives and NGO
representatives be included in the official
Japanese delegation in view of the
conference agenda which includes several
specific sessions on women and NGOs.
In the News
Lessons in Self-reliance
The situation of Japan 30-40 years ago has
many aspects in common with the situation in
China today, according to the 13 members of a
Chinese study team who attended a seminar in
Japan from June 27 - July 10. For the team, the
field trip to the central mountainous area of
Nagano Prefecture was a learning experience.
In discussions with many of the original
grassroots health promoters, the team learned
how the people joined hands to improve the
way of life, and how the private sector, working
in collaboration with the government and
Participants observe infant checkups at
the Saku City Health Center.
volunteers, played a vital role in raising the
level of health in Nagano.
The insights into the use of the private
sector to promote health on a fee-charged basis
were particularly beneficial for the team. In
China the concept of paying for services is still
relatively new. However, in areas where the
Integrated Project is being implemented, project
personnel are working to improve
services and promote self-reliance of
activities by providing high-quality
services on a fee-charged basis.
An annual event, the 11th Parasite
Control Seminar for Promoting the IP
in China was sponsored by the
Sasakawa Memorial Health Founda
The team looks over health examination records of the
tion and conducted by the Japan
Nagano Health Service Association.
Association of Parasite Control
(JAPC) in cooperation with JOICFP. Ten
of the participants were representatives of 10
Nagano, which first launched a unique mobile
provinces implementing the fourth three-year
health care team to reach isolated rural areas
IP plan. A representative also attended from
without doctors in 1945. The pioneering
the Taicang Family Health Service Center. The hospital, under the leadership of its director, Dr.
center is operated by the Taicang Family
Toshikazu Wakatsuki, was ahead of its time in
Planning Association and provides fee-charged
initiating outreach preventive health care and
services with a goal of self-reliance. Two
education services and served as a health
representatives of the National IP Steering
examination center for the entire prefecture.
Committee also attended.
The hospital also initiated intensive and
The Chinese visitors were particularly
systematic screening with education, and
impressed with the history of activities of the
establishment of a “total health control”
Nagano Health Service Association. The
program in the village of Yachiho. Under the
association was established in the extremely
program, each villager kept a health diary on an
poor area of Nagano as a parasite control (PC)
annual basis.
organization in 1954 with three staff members
In Nagano, the team also visited the
who began by promoting mass PC activities on
Nagano Prefectural Government Office, Saku
a fee-charged basis. Through these activities,
Prefectural Health Center, government offices,
people became more aware of the importance of a primary school and the house of a farming
health. The association broadened its activities
family in Saku City, Usuda Town and Yachiho
to other areas of preventive health care and
village. The observations complemented the
began providing mass health checkups. Today,
visit to the Tokyo Health Service Association
the association is a self-reliant body with over
and the presentations that the team received in
30 staff members.
Tokyo. The team gained a much firmer
Another institution of interest to the visitors understanding of ways to achieve self-reliance
was Saku Central Hospital in a rural area of
in the promotion of mass preventive health care.
Spreading the Word by Radio
Dr. Sook Bang, senior consultant,
Korea Institute for Health and Social
Affairs, (right) speaks with JOICFP
Chairman Chojiro Kunii in Tokyo on
June 28. Bang was in Japan to gather
information about the health-care system
and activities for the aged. Korea, like
Japan, is facing a rapidly aging society.
A reporter for Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
interviews a woman from the Miao ethnic minority in
China working as a midwife for a worldwide radio
program to be aired on NHK’s Radio Japan (photo on
right). The program, for broadcast in August, is one of a
five-part series on population issues and the family to be
broadcast worldwide from August - December. Made with
collaboration from JOICFP. the series features activities of
JOICFP's Integrated Project in China in the first program
and in Tanzania in the third program. The series, entitled 5.7 billion Population Challenge-A
Family Point of View was planned to mark the UN International Conference on Population and
Development to be held in Cairo, Egypt, in September, and the International Year of the Family.
6
JOICFP NEWS, August 1994
In the News
Japanese Respond to Campaign
A unique campaign launched by JOICFP in
August last year had netted ¥4,371,000
(US$41,200 at an official exchange rate of ¥106
to US$1) at the end of this June to support
activities of the Integrated Project (IP) in
developing
countries.
Under the
campaign, the
public,
institutions,
organizations
and businesses
have been
BBBOX
sending in used
prepaid cards to
4 card donation box in
JOICFP for sale
Tenmaya Department
to collectors in
Store, Okayama City
Japan and
abroad. The
cards, which are used for phones, subways,
railways and highways, feature appealing
illustrations and photos that attract collectors.
Prepaid cards are widely used throughout
Japan. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation (NTT) alone issues 20 million
cards annually.
JOICFP has been surprised by the tremen
dous response to the campaign, which it
launched primarily to raise awareness. The
campaign, which has been widely featured in
■
the media, has proved effective for drawing
attention to JOICFP and to population and
family planning issues. Gaining the under
standing of the Japanese public about popula
tion issues has grown in importance since the
government’s announcement of the new Global
Issues Initiative (GII).
The media attention began at the end of last
year and word about the campaign spread as it
was carried by radio, television, newspapers
and magazines nationwide. The number of
cards sent in escalated with the attention. By
the end of June, JOICFP had received around
700.000 cards of which 550,000 had been
exchanged for cash.
The funds generated by the card sales have
been allocated to support grassroots IP
activities and encourage the self-reliance of
projects in China, Ghana, Guatemala, Nepal,
Tanzania and Zambia.
Responses to the campaign have come from
individuals as well as local governments,
hospitals, enterprises and educational institu
tions. Many of these have initiated their own
card-collection system and information
dissemination activities to support JOICFP.
Over 5,000 different organizations are now
collaborating with JOICFP for the campaign
including a major department store, Tenmaya
Department Store in Okayama City, Okayama
Prefecture.
Expressions of Gratitude
Two African visitors paid courtesy calls'
to the mayors of Kawaguchi and Setagaya
cities to express
their gratitude
for the cities’
donation of
reconditioned
bicycles to
support
grassroots health
With Mayor Yoji Nagase
promotion in
their countries. On June 13, Nii Adote
Addo, program director, Planned Parenthood
Association of Ghana (PPAG), and Tengio
Urrio, coordinator, Service Delivery, Family
Planning Association of Tanzania (UMATI),
met with Mayor Yoji Nagase of Kawaguchi
City to express gratitude for the city’s
JOICFP NEWS, August 1994
donation of 50 bikes each for Ghana and
Tanzania. The next day, the Africans paid a
visit to Setagaya City where they thanked
Mayor Keiji Oba for the city’s generosity.
The city, one of the oldest members of the
Municipal Coordinating Committee for
Overseas
Bicycle
Assistance
(MCCOBA),
also donated 50
bicycles to each
country. During
the courtesy
With Mayor Keiji Oba
calls, the
visitors also explained that the bicycles will
help health workers to promote maternal
and child health and family planning.
7
Appropriate
Technologies
Margaret Dodd Britton, deputy director,
Technology Management Department, Program
for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH),
spoke with JOICFP NEWS on June 2 about her
organization. Below are highlights.
PATH'S mission is to improve health,
especially the health of women and children, in
developing countries. We focus on the
technologies related to improving health and we
are accomplishing our mission through
increasing the efficacy, safety, availability and
appropriateness of different contraceptives and
health technologies. By a focus on technology,
I mean we actually develop some technologies
and help introduce these technologies into
health and family planning (FP) programs. We
also transfer technologies for local
manufacturing where feasible and appropriate.
PATH is unique
in that our focus is
not just on the
technology itself,
but how to fit it into
a health system to
improve health in a
particular setting.
In addition to
Margaret Dodd
contraceptive
Britton
technology, PATH
is working in areas
related to safe injection systems, safe blood,
and safe birth. So we are interested in
technologies that are not only appropriate, but
are also simple to use and low cost. If
appropriate, we may transfer technologies to a
country. In this situation, we would train
people in the use of the technology and also
help people to develop appropriate educational
materials.
We think it is so important that technolo
gies be appropriate for programs. Therefore,
we assess whether or not a technology is
appropriate. The best people to assess this are
the those in the field. As technologies are used
in the field, we continue to make modifications.
One of our interests is reproductive health.
We hope in the future to see more integration of
FP and overall women’s reproductive health,
counseling and post-abortion services. Also in
the future, we hope to have more recognition
that a woman’s FP needs change throughout her
reproductive years as her age and family
situation change.
VOICE OF VOICES
By Chojiro Kunii
I
Parasites - a Beginning
About 40 years ago, the Japan Association
of Parasite Control (JAPC) organized a training
seminar for parasite control (PC) technicians
under the directorship of Dr. Yoshitaka Komiya
and other experts. It was the first such seminar
aimed at controlling parasite infections which
were prevalent in those days. The seminar then
began to be held annually to a growing number
of participants who would return to their
localities and launch PC campaigns. The idea
of PC caught on and spread nationwide. The
PC promoters also worked as health agents to
promote community health activities. With the
help of local medical and health experts, they
involved primary schools, women’s associations
and companies in the campaigns.
During the course of the campaigns, the
promoters realized the significant impact that
bacterial infection was having on the people.
The identification of diseases such as dysentery
through the examinations was noted as an
important issue and the promoters attempted to
expand their activities into this field.
But our actions were strongly opposed by
the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which
referred to the Infectious Diseases Prevention
Law to inhibit the activities. The ministry
urged JAPC to limit its activities to parasites.
However, those of us concerned about the
health of the people did not pay much attention
to the law and went ahead with efforts to
prevent infectious diseases. We gained the
cooperation of experts in this venture. We
devoted ourselves to this cause, expanding our
activities to include measures against food
poisoning and the promotion of health
education. Expanding our examinations to
involve schools and businesses, we took little
notice of the law. Ahead of the Olympic Games
in Tokyo in 1964, we saw the number of
examinations for bacterial infections double
and our activities grew dramatically.
After this phase, our activities further
expanded into occult blood testing for diseases
such as stomach cancer. We found an increas
ing demand from companies requesting tests for
workers and Dr. Kurokawa of Tohoku Univer
sity, an advocate of the early detection of
stomach cancer, led this new drive.
We made every effort to detect stomach
cancer at an early stage and the occult blood
test was recognized as an important tool for this
purpose. “Early detection for early treatment”
was our slogan. The introduction of examina
tions for bacterial infections and occult blood
testing both came out of our earlier PC
activities. Through these and other efforts, the
concept and strategy of preventive health care
was gradually established in Japan.
DIARY
-JOICFP Program Officer Ryoichi Suzuki was in
Bangladesh from Mar. 31 - Apr. 6 to monitor the
Sustainable Community-based FP/MCH Project
I
with Special Focus on Women.
-Shoji Shibata. deputy executive secretary,
j
JFPA, was in China from Mar. 30 - Apr. 7 to
exchange information on contraceptive marketing y
and IEC. He was accompanied by JOICFP
I
Program Officer Yoshitatsu Kanno.
t
- Paula Bagasao, senior advisor. Donor
Coordination, Asian/Pacific Region. Bureau for
‘
Program and Policy Coordination, USAID, visited
JOICFP on Apr. 12 to discuss the GII.
- JOICFP Deputy Executive Director Yasuo Kon •
was in Taiwan. China, from Apr. 14 - 16 to attend •
the 30th anniversary of the Maternal and Child
Health Association.
i
JOICFP Deputy Executive Director Yasuo Kon j
and program officers Aiko lijima and Ryoko
Nishida were in the Philippines to attend the
1
Orientation and Planning Workshop of the
‘
Sustainable Community-based FP/MCH Project
with Special Focus on Women, held from Apr. 18 - :
19. lijima and Nishida later monitored project
activities.
)
-Richard Frank, president. Population Service
tt
International (PSI), visited JOICFD on \. 20 to
exchange information.
- Seven paramedics from six countries attended a
one-day seminar on FP activities in Japan and the
IP at JOICFP on Apr. 22.
-JOICFP Program Officer Sumie Ishii and staff
member Tetsuo Kato monitored the IP and VDIA
activities in Brazil and attended the PrepCom Ill in
New York while out of Japan from Apr. 3 - 24 and
Apr. 9 - 24, respectively.
- Yoshio Koike. UNFPA country director. Sierra
Leone, visited JOICFP to exchange information
while in Japan from Apr. 12 - May 12.
- Mieko Yabuta, associate external relations
officer. Information and External Relations
Division. UNFPA, visited JOICFP on May 16 and
17 to exchange information on the production of
the Japanese version of the UNFPA Briefing Kit
and the UNFPA-sponsored Poster Contest.
- Dr. Hirofumi Ando, deputy executive director,
UNFPA, was in Tokyo from May 15 - 18 to
exchange information with parliamentarians,
government officials and JOICFP.
- Dr. Halfdan Mahler, secretary-general, and
Mark Laskin. assistant secretary-general, IPPF.
were in Japan from May 24 - 27 to hold discussions and exchange information with parliamentarians, government officials and representatives of
FPFJ, JFPA and JOICFP.
- Margaret Dodd Britton, deputy director,
Technology Management Department. PATH,
visited JOICFP on May 30 for discussions.
- Eleven participants from 11 countries attended
the Seminar on Community-based Family Planning
Strategy, held May 16 - Jun. 10. The seminar was
implemented by JOICFP and sponsored by JICA.
Four nurses from Taiwan attended a one-day
seminar at JOICFP on FP in Japan and JOICFP's
IP on Jun. 20.
- Juan G. Santiago, deputy chief. Interregional
and NGO
NGO Programs
Programs Branch,
Branch, Technical and
Evaluation Division, UNFPA, visited JOICFP on
Jun. 24 to exchange information.
- Kenneth Far. chief. Population Division.
USAID in Indonesia, visited JOICFP on Jul. 7 to
exchange information on population programs and
JOICFP’s activities. He was accompanied by Paul
White, minister counselor for development
cooperation. U.S. Embassy in Japan.
- Thirteen representatives from China attended the
11th Seminar on Parasite Control for Chinese
Officials, held in Japan from Jun. 17 - Jul. 10. The
seminar was implemented by JAPC in cooperation
with JOICFP.
8
JOICFP 'Documentary Series
____ A New Documentary Film____
Maria
33 mins., Color; English, Spanish, Japanese
Our latest documentary film features two Marias
from Guatemala — a country over 50 percent of
whose population is comprised of indigenous people.
Nana Maria, a traditional birth attendant and faith
healer who still follows the Mayan tradition closely, strives
Io protect the health and decrease the burden of the
women in her village. City-dweller Maria Teresa wishes
to get closer Io indigenous women like Nana Maria.
This touching film outlines the awakened women
trying Io protect themselves through action.
Distributed by
Sakura Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
Yoyogi Center Bldg,, 57-1 Yoyogi 1-chome
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151, Japan
Tel: 81-3-3320631 1 /Fax: 81-3-33207666
Telex. J34799 ITCINBTH
16mm *VTR (Beta, VHS/NTSC, PAL, SECAM)
JOICFP NEWS is a monthly newsletter published by
the Japanese Organization for International
Cooperation in Family Planning. Inc. (JOICFP).
JOICFP NEWS welcomes your comments,
suggestions and contributions. Please mail to:
JOICFP NEWS
Hoken Kaikan Bekkan
1-1. Ichigaya Sadohara-cho
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162 Japan
Phone: 81-3-3268-5875
Facsimile: 81-3-3235-7090
JOICFP NEWS, August 1994
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