More than 30 policy experts and senior officials from nine US and Japanese government agencies gathered for a high-level dialogue to identify areas where we can deepen cooperation on global health under the Trump administration and Abe government. At the event, co-hosted by the UN Foundation, representatives noted the leadership that Japan demonstrated through the G7 presidency last year and expressed the desire shown around the world for continued US leadership on global health. They felt that with the changes unfolding around the world, this area provides President Trump and Prime Minister Abe with an important opportunity to demonstrate their cooperation and leadership.
During the animated discussions, participants identified five areas where US and Japanese interests are now closely aligned and which are ripe for stronger cooperation in global health:
1) Work together to expand global health security
2) Collaborate in strengthening health systems in vulnerable countries to better respond to emergencies
3) Cooperate to advance efforts to battle communicable diseases
4) Collaborate on efforts to promote R&D and innovation in global health responses
5) Apply lessons from Japan and the United States to address aging populations
The United States and Japan can work together by coordinating their positions more intensively in multilateral forums and can also reinforce one another with strong leadership and funding via international organizations that focus specifically on health and development. It was further suggested that the two governments might consider launching the first major bilateral initiative specifically on global health cooperation.
CO-CHAIRS
KEIZO TAKEMI, Member, House of Councillors of Japan; former Senior Vice Minister for Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan
MICHAEL REICH, Taro Takemi Professor of International Health Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
PARTICIPANTS
JENNIFER ADAMS, Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health, US Agency for International Development
SATOHIRO AKIMOTO, CEO, Washington Insights
CELYNNE BALATBAT, Special Assistant to the President, National Academy of Medicine
MARK BROWN, Principal Deputy Coordinator, Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy, US Department of State
KENT CALDER, Director of Edwin O. Reischauer Center of East Asian Studies, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
KATHY CALVIN, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation
CHRIS COLLINS, President, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
VICTOR DZAU, President, National Academy of Medicine
ERIKA ELVANDER, Director, Asia/Pacific Office, Office of Global Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services
JAMES GANNON, Executive Director, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA)
MATTHEW GOODMAN, Senior Adviser for Asian Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies
SUMIE ISHII, Chairperson, Japanese Organization for Cooperation in Family Planning; Co-chair, Civil Society Platform on G7 Ise Shima Summit
ELIZABETH IVANOVICH, Director, Global Health, United Nation Foundation
PETER KILMARX, Deputy Director, Fogarty International Center, US National Institutes of Health
YOSUKE KOBAYASHI, Senior Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency
KAZUHIKO KOGUCHI, Executive Director for Japan, The World Bank
JIMMY KOLKER, former Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services; former Ambassador to Uganda
KOKI MASUHARA, Director, Co-ordination Office for Development Policy Division International Bureau, Ministry of Finance of Japan
CHRIS MILLARD, Program Manager and Research Associate, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies
J. STEPHEN MORRISON, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies
HIROMI MURAKAMI, Adjunct Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
HIROKI NAKATANI, Professor for Global Initiatives, Keio University; former Assistant Director-General, World Health Organization
RYOSUKA NAKATA, Chief Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency
ATSUYUKI OIKE, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan
ARIEL PABLOS-MENDEZ, former Assistant Administrator for Global Health, US Agency for International Development
LORI SLOATE, Senior Director, Global Health, United Nations Foundation
SHEPHERD SMITH, President, Institute for Youth Development
STEVEN SMITH, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services
NAOKO YAMAMOTO, Assistant Minister for Global Health and Health Industry Strategy, Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan
KRISTINA YARROW, Director, Policy and Advocacy, Global Health, United Nations Foundation
KEIKO WATANABE, Director, Global Health, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA)
TIM ZIEMER, former Coordinator, US President’s Malaria Initiative; Rear Admiral, United States Navy (Ret.)
