Latest news with #healthMinistry
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
As Japan's birth rate falls to a record low, a ‘critical' demographic crisis unfolds
Japan is facing a severe demographic crisis, marked by a historic low in its birth rate alongside a rapidly ageing population. In 2024, the number of babies born in the country fell to 686,061, marking the first time this figure has dropped below 700,000 since record-keeping began in 1899, according to a health ministry announcement on Wednesday. Births dropped by 41,227, or 5.7 per cent, from the previous year. It was only two years ago, in 2022, that the figure fell below the 800,000 birth threshold. A ministry official said the situation was 'critical' as 'multiple complex factors are preventing individuals from fulfilling their hopes of marriage and starting families,' The Asahi newspaper reported. The country's demographic crisis is advancing 15 years ahead of experts' predictions, who had forecast around 755,000 births for 2024, and did not anticipate that births would fall below 690,000 until 2039. Additionally, Japan's total fertility rate – the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – dropped to a historic low of 1.15, down from 1.20 the previous year, underscoring the country's ongoing trend of delayed marriage and childbirth. Both the birth and fertility rates have decreased for nine consecutive years. The figures exclude foreign nationals born in Japan and Japanese born outside the country. Japan also saw a record high of 1,605,298 deaths in 2024, a 1.9 per cent increase from the previous year. This led to a population loss of 919,237 people, marking the 18th consecutive year of decline and the largest recorded.
Al Arabiya
18-05-2025
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Gaza health ministry says all public hospitals in north ‘out of service'
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday that all public hospitals in the north of the territory were now 'out of service' after Israeli forces besieged the Indonesian hospital. 'The Israeli occupation has intensified its siege with heavy fire around the Indonesian hospital and its surroundings, preventing the arrival of patients, medical staff, and supplies -- effectively forcing the hospital out of service,' the ministry said. 'All public hospitals in the North Gaza governorate are now out of service,' it added.
Japan Times
15-05-2025
- Health
- Japan Times
Expert panel suggests Japan's government make childbirth free
The government should cover out-of-pocket childbirth fees, an expert panel said, as Japan seeks to reverse its declining population and shrinking pool of tax-paying workers. The government should "design a specific system by around fiscal 2026 to make standard childbirth expenses free of charge,' according to a proposal adopted on Wednesday by an expert panel tasked with investigating how to ease the financial burden of giving birth. Following the proposal, the health ministry will look into how to realize such a system, according to public broadcaster NHK. Officials at the ministry weren't immediately available for comment. Childbirth isn't covered by national health insurance in Japan. The government gives a subsidy of up to ¥500,000 ($3,402) to women giving birth, but those outlays didn't cover the full cost in about 45% of cases, according to data collected from May 2023 to September 2024. While the cost of giving birth can vary, it averaged about ¥518,000 in the first half of 2024, up from around ¥417,000 in 2012, the panel said, citing data provided by the health ministry. The proposal follows a child care policy package adopted in 2023 to reverse Japan's declining birthrate by supporting families with young children and helping to boost their finances. Births in Japan reached a record low in 2024, a worrying sign for the government as it tries to fund increasing social security costs for an aging population with a shrinking cohort of taxpayers and less tax revenue. The number of newborns fell to 720,988 last year, reaching a historical low in records going back to 1899 and extending a nine-year streak of declines, according to the health ministry.
Free Malaysia Today
06-05-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
MMA confirms peaceful march against price-display rule on Tuesday
Private general practitioners said they were disappointed and frustrated over the many unanswered questions regarding the implementation of medicine price display. PETALING JAYA : The protest rally by private general practitioners (GP) against the implementation of the price display rule and decades of stagnant consultation fees will proceed as planned on May 6 in Putrajaya, says the Malaysian Medical Association. The MMA's private practitioners section chairman, Dr Parmjit Singh Kuldip Singh, said the rally will conclude with a march to the Prime Minister's Office to hand over a memorandum. He added that the relevant authorities, including the police, have been officially informed about the gathering on Tuesday. 'The symbolic walk is to voice the medical fraternity's deep disappointment and frustration over the many unanswered questions regarding the implementation of medicine price display and the unresolved issue of stagnant private GP consultation fees. 'We wish to reiterate that doctors are not against price transparency but are strongly opposed to the use of Act 723 on the medical profession,' he said in a statement today, referring to the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 under the domestic trade and cost of living ministry. Yesterday, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the health ministry would not prevent GPs from taking part in the planned march. However, he hoped that the doctors would understand that he and the ministry had been fighting on their behalf for the GPs' fee review. The MMA had previously criticised Putrajaya for going ahead with the enforcement of the mandatory drug price display rule, and particularly for failing to consult GPs and implementing the policy under a non-health related law. They argue that the rule should fall under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and be delayed until the GPs' consultation fees have been reviewed as promised. Yesterday, Dzulkefly said the review of the GPs' consultation fees would be finalised by next month, with a Cabinet memorandum and circular expected to be tabled soon. Consultation fees have remained unchanged in the last 30 years. On April 30, Dzulkefly and domestic trade and cost of living minister Armizan Mohd Ali announced that the mandatory price labelling for private healthcare providers would take effect on May 1.
