Dr. Yokokura’s Inaugural Speech

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WMA General Assembly, Chicago, 2017
Inauguration Speech
The 68th
President of the World Medical Association
Yoshitake Yokokura, M.D.
President, World Medical Association
President, Japan Medical Association
I would like to express my deepest respect to all our
distinguished guests and participants at today’s assembly, as
well as my colleagues.
Standing here before an audience comprising individuals with
such great wisdom, experiences, and achievements to give
my inauguration speech as President of the World Medical
Association, WMA, is both the grandest moment in my life
and the moment that I am most aware of the enormity of the
responsibility this appointment brings.
I first of all vow to you all that I will do my utmost to fulfill
my responsibilities in spite of any kind of difficulty in order
to ensure the healthy life of all the people and further
development of the WMA which supports it.
Mission of the JMA
In the Japan Medical Association, JMA, three presidents
including myself have been appointed to the position of
President of the WMA thus far.
As an organization representing physicians in Japan, the JMA
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not only protects the health of the people of Japan but also
proposes recommendations to ensure that Japanese healthcare
is moving in the right direction, at times working in close
collaboration with the government and ruling political party.
Amongst the WMA’s National Medical Associations, NMAs,
I believe that there are only a few where physicians
contribute to and are involved in formulating actual national
healthcare policies as the JMA does.
I greatly appreciate the high evaluation in which the JMA is
held by many NMAs of the WMA.
My roots
I decided to stand as a candidate for President of the WMA at
its General Assembly in Taipei last year because of a
something which I strongly believe in.
This is that “I want to spread the concept of Japan’s
healthcare system and know-how—which have raised the
healthy life expectancy of Japanese people to amongst the
highest in the world—throughout the world.”
Today I would like to speak about this belief.
This belief partly originates from my own roots.
I was born and raised in Takata Village in Fukuoka
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Prefecture.
As there was no doctor in the village at that time, my father,
who was a military physician, established a small clinic
there.
When I close my eyes, I can see my parents as they were
then.
My father readily accepted any patient who needed treatment.
He poured effort into educating people about infectious
diseases, and was a physician who endeavored to be always
aware of the health status of local residents.
My mother was a person who would sell her own clothes,
kimonos in order to buy medicines for impoverished patients
who could not pay their medical fees.
Observing my parents as I grew up, I learned the spirit of
healthcare, “To make every effort without regard for myself
to help people before my eyes who are ill,” through my daily
life.
Physician’s mission is to “examine the patient”.
The mission entails accompanying patients on their journey
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through life, from birth until death, working together with
them to make their lives healthier.
When I remember my father—who tended to be with local
people in his work—I feel anew that his actions and attitude
should be the “basis of healthcare”.
Looking to the current situation, the medical environment has
been changing by rapid progress and use of ICT, AI and so
on.
Now is precisely the time when we must return to basis of
healthcare when we each pledged to “consecrate my life to
the service of humanity” under the WMA Declaration of
Geneva.
Physicians must apply these advanced technologies to daily
medical practice as effective and safe tools.
The world moves at different speeds, and we are now rushing
into a period of tremendous change—the aging society.
Leading the world, Japan is plunging into an explosively
ultra-aging society with the postwar baby boomers reaching
the age of 75 years in 2025.
As society ages, issues within the healthcare field are
increasing.
I therefore propose realizing a “society of healthy longevity”
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in which people are able to continue to participate actively in
life even in old age.
This is a major issue that each country should cope with in
the future.
Universal Health Coverage
In the rise in Japanese people’s healthy longevity to the
world’s top level, “universal health coverage”, “UHC” has
played an essential role.
We are certain that “UHC” is also a key to creating models to
guide aging societies, unprecedented in the world, towards a
“sense of security”.
Japan achieved a rapid growth in the postwar period.
This growth was possible to achieve because of the “UHC”,
the purpose of which was to enable people to “work with a
sense of security”.
Japan’s healthcare system founded on UHC has even received
high praise from the renowned medical journal The Lancet,
and has also been lauded by the World Bank as a “global
model” for UHC.
Furthermore, achievement of UHC was adopted by the United
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Nations on September 25, 2015, as one of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
This move was based on Japan’s performance record rooted
in our experience with UHC over more than 50 years, and
expectations are held for Japan’s leadership in this field.
By continuing to globally disseminate this excellent
healthcare system in the future, we will be contributing to the
realization of happiness and prosperity for people throughout
the world.
Countermeasures to Disasters and Pollution
People in Japan have a long history of doing battle with air
pollution and natural disasters.
With regard to air pollution and contamination during the
period of high growth, it was the task of physicians to
discover patients and identify causes of the disease.
At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, we
put together JMATs (JMA Teams), with approximately 10,000
participating medical professionals from throughout the
country entering the disaster zone in turns.
We have been able to move forward by transforming the past
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experience in overcoming various disasters into a source of
strength and wisdom.
Through the WMA, I intend to make good use of these
experiences.
Infectious Diseases
Next, I would like to talk about infectious diseases.
In Japan’s history, we have been able to reduce the number of
tuberculosis patients in our nation.
Thus I am able to speak to countries troubled by a prevalence
of TB.
Japan is also promoting countermeasures to emerging
infectious diseases.
In November 2016, the 2nd WVA-WMA Global Conference
on One Health was held in Fukuoka Prefecture.
By pooling their wisdom under the principles of “One
Health”, physicians and veterinarians are now promoting
further countermeasures to infectious diseases.
Junior Doctors Network:
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-Training junior doctors for the future-
The times are changing by the minute.
Issues facing healthcare on a global scale are changing form
one after the other, becoming increasingly complex.
In order to tackle these issues seriously, training for junior
doctors is absolutely essential.
Physicians who make every effort, without regard for
themselves, to help people before their eyes who are ill,
surmounting national boundaries, religious and ethnic
differences, gender and language barriers.
Physicians who are deeply involved in improving the lives of
the people living in the community, despite being a specialist
in advanced medical care.
It is my intention to pour my utmost energies into the training
of junior doctors in response to the demands of the times.
Mission of the WMA
Due to the progression of globalization, healthcare-related
issues are also causing obstacles across national borders. As a
means of resolving these issues, the role of the WMA is
growing day-by-day.
The World Medical Association must endeavor to overcome
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these difficulties to address wide-ranging issues in the
healthcare field.
In order to achieve this, I believe that it will become
increasingly important for healthcare professionals around
the world to maintain close cooperation through the World
Medical Association.
Going forward, as President of the WMA I will intend to
listen with even greater earnestness to all of your voices with
regard to the healthcare issues of any country and region and
accelerate WMA efforts to resolve these issues.
Conclusion
Lastly, I would like to talk about my vision of what
healthcare should be.
This was mentioned in a lecture by the late Japanese
economist Hirofumi Uzawa when he was teaching at the
University of Chicago’s Department of Economics in the
1960s.
He referred to social systems for enabling all people to lead
abundant lives and maintaining an attractive society as
“Social Common Capital”.
He positioned healthcare as one of these systems, alongside
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the natural environment, roads, water supply, electricity, and
education.
Professor Uzawa described the conditions as follows.
“The institutional, social, and financial conditions necessary
for all people comprising the society to receive the very best
healthcare that the society can provide at that
time—regardless of their age or gender, and regardless of
their economic or social circumstances—must be in place.”
Furthermore, once these conditions are in place, rules are
necessary to ensure that they are maintained.
Although these rules may be harsh for use physicians, they
may have even greater fulfillment and honor.
Professor Uzawa continued as follows.
“In both education and healthcare, professional specialists
carry out their professional duties in accordance with
professional standards and discipline, in the hope that all
people in society will become happy and prosperous.”
Surely this expresses the essence of healthcare; the ideal
form that healthcare should take.
I hope that the concept of healthcare will become “Social
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Common Capital for the entire world” with everyone’s
support.
I do also hope to lead the World Medical Association forward
into the future.