Current trends in epidemiology and hygiene in Japan

Abstract

It has been 40 years since I graduated from the School of Medicine. On retirement from the University, I would like to reflect upon the past and try to assess my role in the current trends in epidemiology and hygiene. In epidemiological study, the focus has turned from acute communicable diseases to life-style related diseases, and the methodology has progressed to more complex multivariate analyses through the rapid advance of computer technology. The Japan Epidemiological Association was founded in 1991, and as the protection of personal information has been received increasing public a Hention, ethical guidelines for epidemiological study were published by the government in 2002. While the study and education of hygiene have encountered problems of their identity in the many universities since the 1970s, I played a certain role in this area through the Japanese Society for Hygiene and in the Japanese Association of Directors of Departments of Hygiene and Public Health at Medical Schools. In this area, ethical problems and normative consciousness have received increased attention. As a Protestant Christian, I feel a strong sense of responsibility in approaching these issues.