The Japanese government is accelerating preparations for medical relief and emergency response systems in the face of rapidly changing international security circumstances, including North Korea's nuclear and missile development and a potential US-Iran conflict. Notably, the government plans to establish an office at the National Institute of Health Crisis Management (JIHS) and build a standby relief team that can be deployed immediately by the end of the year, addressing the existing weakness of absent command structure.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced on the 19th that it will organize relief teams and improve deployment systems to provide swift medical support in the event of armed attacks or other emergencies from foreign nations. The ministry plans to establish an office within the National Institute of Health Crisis Management (JIHS) by the end of the year.
This measure is based on the Civil Protection Law. Currently, relief team members are not designated, and there is no command organization to coordinate their dispatch. There have been ongoing concerns that such vulnerabilities could delay medical response in times of emergency.
The newly established office will create a list of relief teams composed of doctors and nurses to be dispatched to affected areas in case of emergency, and will be responsible for securing necessary medical and relief equipment. In case of emergency, the relief teams will transport hospitalized patients, pregnant women, and others outside disaster areas via air and sea routes, or provide medical care at evacuation hubs such as airports.
