2022 Volume 71 Issue 5 Pages 378-388
The final evaluation of "Health Japan 21 (the second term)," which started in April 2013, ended in October 2022. According to the report, out of 53 target items, 8 items (15.1%) achieved the target value, 20 items (37.7%) improved, and 14 items (26.4%) did not change, while 4 items (7.5%) became worse, and 7 items (13.2%) were difficult to evaluate.
From 2010 to 2019, healthy life expectancy increased by 2.26 years for men and 1.76 years for women. As this is greater than the increase in life expectancy (1.86 years for men and 1.15 years for women), the most important goal of "Health Japan 21 (the second term)," of "increasing healthy life expectancy to exceed the increase in life expectancy" has been achieved.
On the other hand, the prefectural disparity in healthy life expectancy shrank for men, but increased for women. By showing the changes in prefectural disparities in various lifestyle habits, the author emphasized that in order to reduce health disparities, it is important to identify sub-populations with major health problems, and to strengthen efforts to raise their health levels.
The age-adjusted death rate (outcome index) for cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and ischemic heart disease decreased significantly beyond the target. On the other hand, regarding the lifestyle habits that are related to the above diseases (e.g., numbers of persons with metabolic syndrome and those at risk, percentage of obese persons, adult smoking rate, etc.) and the related clinical conditions (e.g., average systolic blood pressure, prevalence of hyperlipidemia, etc.), there was a contradictory phenomenon in which indicators remained unchanged or worsened.
Lastly, the author explained that the next National Health Promotion Plan is being formulated in view of future changes in the demographic, economic, and industrial structures in Japan. The author mentioned the points that should be kept in mind for all policy makers, at all levels of local governments.
