The WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre – WKC) participated in a workshop on community diagnosis as part of a study tour by representatives from Brunei Darussalam to Japan to gain insights from Japan’s health policies and practices to progressively achieve universal health coverage (UHC) in the context of population ageing.
The workshop on 14 March was hosted by Kyoto University’s School of Public Health. Community diagnosis identifies health problems in a population using health indicators to define those at risk or those in need of care, and the opportunities and resources available to address those problems.
In Brunei Darussalam, the proportion of people 65 years and older is expected to double from 7% to 14% in just 13 years. Researchers from Kyoto University, the University of Tokyo and Niigata University demonstrated how data collected through the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study has been used in several municipalities in Japan to conduct a community diagnosis to address older persons’ health needs.
Dr Megumi Rosenberg, WHO technical officer responsible for UHC metrics and measurement research at WKC, presented the Centre’s research on improving the measurement and understanding of unmet needs for healthcare and social care among older persons.
“Data is the key to health equity and to leave no one behind,” she stressed. “We need population health data with sufficient coverage of vulnerable groups. We need good diagnostic tools to identify those in need of health services. And we need strong political will and resources to reduce the unmet needs to achieve health equity.”
The WHO Kobe Centre conducts research to improve the monitoring of universal health coverage (UHC) by measuring how health systems respond to population ageing.
Learn more about WHO Kobe Centre’s research on unmet needs of older persons.
Find out more about the ongoing study between the WHO Kobe Centre, the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study and the City of Kobe here.