On 7th and 8th October, the 22nd Japan Association for International Health (JAIH) Meeting was held at Osaka University, under the theme of, "Meeting the challenge of enriching life and health."

Around 500 health professionals, academics and students, and representatives of development GOs and NGOs attended.

A keynote speech, "The collaboration of Asia, by Asia, for Asia," explained how post-WWII Japan overcame low health indicators, adapting knowledge to its own culture and embracing a community-based approach.

This community-based approach is at the heart of JOICFP’s development activities.

Participants gather around JOICFP’s poster session

A valuable tool in the fight for health is the MCH Handbook, first developed in 1948. This book has grown from 20 pages to 72 pages, and is distributed to all mothers in Japan.

An expert from Thailand explained how the MCH Handbook had been distributed in the country in 1985, and had now grown from 12 to 55 pages. It is seen as being pivotal in improving the MCH status in Thailand.

An Indonesian expert explained that the handbook had been introduced in 1994, and now covered all 33 provinces, with over 5 million copies being produced.

JOICFP reported on three of its activities:

A baseline study in Nicaragua on teenage sexuality
A baseline study in Ghana on young people’s knowledge, attitude and behavior surrounding HIV/AIDS, and
The development of a framework for greater support of reproductive health in Japanese official development assistance with due consideration of ownership and participation by beneficiaries

Explaining the situation of
adolescent sexuality in Nicaragua

Other areas of note in the meeting were global trends such as those on public health; new approaches to international aid, e.g. strengthening health systems and capacity development; emergency relief assistance and the role of NGOs; and human resource development in international health collaboration.