Okinawa teams up with local organizations to improve health of working age people, hopes to recapture longest average life expectancy title in Japan by 2040

Okinawa teams up with local organizations to improve health of working age people, hopes to recapture longest average life expectancy title in Japan by 2040

Signatories of the “Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement for Promoting Health Lifestyles Among Working-Age People in Okinawa” (from left to right): Japan Health Insurance Association Okinawa Branch Manager Hiroshi Miyazato, Okinawa Medical Association chairman Testuyoshi Asato, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, Okinawa Labor Bureau (OLB) chief Megumu Fukumi and Japan Organization of Occupational Health and Safety (JOHAS) Okinawa Comprehensive Support Center chief Kazuo Aoki – March 18, at the Okinawa Prefectural Office


March 18, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Representatives from five organizations including the Okinawa Prefectural government and the Okinawa Labor Bureau (OLB) signed a “comprehensive cooperation agreement” the morning of March 18, to resolve issues and promote effective policy for improving the health of working-age individual (age 20-64). The group has their eyes set on the goal of Okinawa recapturing the title of highest average life expectancy for both men and women by 2040, and will pour their efforts into working together to create health conditions for workers.

Health indicators for working-age people in Okinawa have experienced a continued downward trend. According to the OLB, the percentage of workers who exhibited abnormal indicators during a regular health examination reached 67.4% in 2019, the country’s worst for the 9th straight year. Indicators that point to lifestyle-related illness such as blood lipids, blood pressure, and liver function tests were particularly high.

The under-65 mortality rate in Okinawa is above the national average, with lifestyle-related causes of death such as heart disease, vascular brain disease, and diabetes again standing out.

In order to improve this situation, representatives of Okinawa Prefecture, the OLB, the Okinawa Medical Association (OMA), and the Japan Health Insurance Association’s (Kyokai Kenpo) Okinawa branch, and Japan Organization of Occupational Health and Safety (JOHAS)  Okinawa Comprehensive Support Center met at the Okinawa Prefectural Office March 18, where they signed the cooperation agreement. The five representatives will devise a strategy for analyzing health examination data and investigate effective policies for promoting workers’ health.

Governor Denny Tamaki emphasized the significance of the five organizations working together, saying, “This will propel health improvements for working age people, and work towards realizing the extension of life expectancy and healthy life years, and to prevent early death.”

As for improving the health of workers in Okinawa, the OLB and Kyokai Kenpo have already put out health declarations, with the OLB’s “Hiyamikachi Health Management Declaration” and Kyokai Kenpo’s “Long Life and Happiness Uchina Health Declaration.” In April, at the start of the new fiscal year in Japan, these will be centralized into the “Uchina Health Management Declaration,” with the five representatives planning to enhance the content.

 

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

 

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