Abe, Gates promote global healthcare vision at Tokyo conference

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe alongside other dignitaries including Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan were in attendance at an international symposium in Tokyo Wednesday centered on the creation of a global healthcare framework.

The global health system, or "universal health coverage" (UHC) is part of Japan's basic global health policy vision and is being pushed by Abe as a means to tackle diseases and infections in developing countries, alongside the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with Wednesday's colloquium seen as a prequel to the Group of Seven summit next May also being hosted by Japan.

The conference saw around 300 people in attendance, with Abe beginning talks by urging international organizations and other stakeholders to collaborate on the single task of strengthening global healthcare infrastructure.

Making basic medical care available to those in developing countries is likely to be announced as one of Japan's major foreign policy drives forthwith and means to raise funds to globalize the UHC framework and train more medical staff to deal with emergency health incidents, such as the Ebola virus epidemic, were traversed at the conference.

Further discussions on fund raising measures have been slated for the near future and ahead of next year's G7 summit, with means to combat HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis, among other infectious diseases, including enhancing resources for medication and vaccinations, being in focus.

Methods for better funding the training of more medical professionals to administer treatment in developing countries, will also be a focal point of ongoing UHC-related plans. Enditem